Douglas A. Howard is Professor of History at Calvin College, Michigan, where he has taught since 1988. He is the author of The History of Turkey (2001), and has published articles on Ottoman military and literary history in journals such as Acta Orientalia, Archivum Ottomanicum, Fides et Historia, the Journal of Asian History, and the Journal of Turkish Studies. He is also a former editor of The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin.

Covering the full history of the Ottoman Empire, from its genesis in post-Mongol Eurasia to its dissolution after the Great War in Europe, this textbook takes a holistic approach, considering the Ottoman worldview - what it was, how it came together, and how it fell apart. Douglas A. Howard stresses the crucial role of the Ottoman sultans and their extended household, discusses the evolution of the empire's fiscal model, and analyzes favorite works of Ottoman literature, emphasizing spirituality, the awareness of space and time, and emotions, migration, violence, disease, and disaster. Following how people spent their time, their attitudes towards authority, how they made their money, and their sense of humor and sense of beauty, this illustrated textbook is an essential resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate, courses on the history of the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, Islamic history, and the history of Eastern Europe. The book includes over eighty illustrations, maps and textboxes.