Over the course of just 200 years, the Ottoman Empire grew from a small, obscure Anatolian state into the most powerful Muslim nation in the world, controlling vast swathes of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and North Africa. Within the empire, science, medicine, technology, and art flourished, and the Ottoman army became one of the most feared and efficient fighting forces in existence. Then came a period of gradual decline. Beset by external enemies and torn apart by conflicting elements inside, over the next 350 years, the Ottoman Empire lost power, territory, and prestige until it became “the sick man of Europe”.

Inside, you will hear about:

• Emergence of the Ottoman Dynasty
• The Fall of Constantinople
• Selim the Grim and Suleiman the Magnificent
• Sultanate of Women
• The Crimean War
• Decline until World War I
• And much more!

This is the dramatic story of the rise, fall, and eventual disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, of its conquests and defeats, and of its sultans who ranged from the grandeur of Suleiman the Magnificent to the obsession and confusion of Mustafa the Mad. The story begins with the dream of the first Ottoman sultan, Osman I, in 1300, and ended with the nightmare of the last sultan, Abdulmejid II, in 1922. This is the story of the Ottoman Empire from beginning to end.