After summarizing the formation of the Ottoman Empire during its classical period, Donald Quataert, a distinguished Ottoman historian and close associate of Halil İnalcık, focuses his study on its later period, from the 18th to the 20th century.

His interest is not monopolized, as is usual, by the political and military history of the Ottoman state, but also extends to the economic and social history woven around the "civil society." Thus, in addition to forms of governance and methods of conducting internal and external policies, demographics, agriculture, craftsmanship, trade, transportation, and popular culture are examined and interrelated, while particular emphasis is placed on critical issues of gender relations, identity, and minorities.

Moreover, this study, which opens by examining the position of the Ottoman Empire in European and world history, closes by tracing its legacy in the regions that once belonged to it. The volume includes rare images, genealogical and chronological maps, and thematic bibliographic guides.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]