The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire: A History of the Osmanlis Up To the Death of Bayezid I 1300-1403

by Herbert Adams Gibbons

Originally published in 1916, this work provides a detailed study of the first century of the Ottoman empire. It traces the life and career of Osman himself and of his descendants, Orkhan, Murad and Bayezid, who laid the foundations of the Ottoman empire.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Herbert Adams Gibbons (1880-1934) was an American author, journalist, publicist and foreign correspondent. He was a foreign correspondent (1909-1916) in Greece, Spain, Turkey and other European countries, a serviceman with the American Expeditionary Forces in France (1917-1918), and a correspondent (1920-1931) for various American magazines in Europe, the Orient, and Africa. His works include: Paris Reborn: A Study in Civic Psychology (1915), An Afternoon in Pont-Croix (1915), The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire (1916), Songs from the Trenches: The Soul of the A. E. F. (1918), The New Map of Europe (1911-1914) (1918), The New Map of Asia (1900-1919) (1919), The Reconstruction of Northern France (1919), Riviera Towns (1920), Venizelos (1920), France and Ourselves: Interpretative Studies, 1917-1919 (1920), Anglo-Saxon Solidarity (1921), Europe Since 1918 (1923), An Introduction to World Politics (1923), John Wanamaker (1926), The New Map of South America (1929), Nationalism and Internationalism (1930) and Wider Horizons: The New Map of the World (1930).

Reviews

[A.L. Sowards · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Gibbons sets out to correct misconceptions about the early Ottoman Empire, arguing its strength wasn’t based in Anatolia, but in Europe.

Here’s what I liked about the book: Most histories of the Ottomans tend to skim over the early leaders (probably because, according to Gibbon, there were no contemporary Ottoman histories—all information about those earlier times was written long after the events). In this book, Gibbons focuses on Osman, Orkhan, Murad, and Bayezid. The writing was good and it included several useful appendices.

Here’s what I didn’t like: The kindle version seems to have been scanned in, so there are frequent typos. There are no maps. The book was written in 1915. Gibbons doesn’t even try to be neutral. Or maybe he’s just hard on everyone. Gibbons often gives dates as facts, but based on other readings, most dates in the 14th century are approximations. And some of his dates were incorrect (in an appendix, for example, he gives the date of Stephen Lazarevic’s vassalage as 1387—two years before Kosovo—or perhaps it’s a typo?).

Still, I haven’t found anything better about the early Ottoman rulers. Probably about 3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads.

[Kostas Bal · Rating 4 out of 5]

If someone is interested in ottoman origins this book is one of the best of its kind.