About the Author

Ryan Gingeras is a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, California. His previous books include Eternal Dawn- Turkey in the Age of Atat rk and Sorrowful Shores- Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire, which was shortlisted for the Rothschild Book Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies and the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize.

Reviews

This epic account of Ottoman decline and the birth of modern Turkey is a tour de force of accessible scholarship. -- Fara Dabhoiwala * The Guardian *
Gingeras takes an even-handed approach to each issue, while never making light of the horrendous tally of human suffering that emerges on every side. Turks have long been treated to an over-simplified account of their modern history. This book teaches the beginning of wisdom, which is that most human history, as it actually happened, was a terrible, bewildering mess. -- Noel Malcolm * The Telegraph *
In his impressive centenary history, Ryan Gingeras recounts not just the death throes of the old realm but the painful emergence of Turkey as a nation state ... It is a complicated story that still reverberates under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Gingeras narrates it with lucid authority. -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman *
Dispassionate and well-researched ... Gingeras sets out the twisting, turning story of decline through the later part of the 19th century. -- Peter Frankopan * Financial Times *
Fruitful reflections on the enduring cultural legacy of the Ottomans, how their empire ended and what was lost when it did ... brings a welcome human lens to the story of the empire's disintegration. -- Vanessa H. Larson * Washington Post *