Welcome!

Enrich Your Travels with Longitude

We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.

SIGN UP FOR

Longitude News

Get our monthly e-mail update

GET A

Catalog

BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

John Gimlette

SEE ALL >

FOR THE HOLIDAYS

To the Arctic

Florian Schultz

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

GLOBES

The Pioneer

Replogle

SEE ALL >

The Ottoman Empire

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Lords of the Horizons

Lords of the Horizons

by Jason Goodwin

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 351 PAGES

Goodwin artfully combines his modern travels with scholarship, history and reflection, capturing the outrageous personalities, events and vagaries of the 600-year-old Ottoman empire. (TKY44, $17.00)

The Enemy at the Gate, Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europe

The Enemy at the Gate, Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europe

by Andrew Wheatcroft

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

Wheatcroft (The Habsburgs) recreates the grand ambition, vainglorious personalities and drama of Siege of Vienna in 1683 by the Ottoman Turks in this richly detailed history. (AST103, $17.95)

The Habsburgs, Embodying Empire

The Habsburgs, Embodying Empire

by Andrew Wheatcroft

  • HISTORY
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

The Habsburgs ruled over more diverse peoples and cultures than any other European dynasty since the Roman period. With skillful scholarship and engaging style, Wheatcroft reveals the history of this family of eccentric monarchs. (AST11, $17.00)

A History of Ottoman Architecture

A History of Ottoman Architecture

by Godfrey Goodwin

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

With 500 black-and-white illustrations and 81site plans, Goodwin's definitive, illustrated architectural companion, organized chronologically, covers buildings of importance throughout Turkey. (TKY39, $39.95)

Empires of the Sea

Empires of the Sea

by Roger Crowley

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

Crowley vividly reconstructs the epic clash between the Ottoman Empire and Christendom for the control of the Mediterranean -- and the soul of 16th-century Europe -- in this thrilling account of dramatic battles and brutality, rival faiths and larger-than-life personalities. (MED146, $16.00)

Mosque

Mosque

by David Macaulay

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2003
  • HARD COVER
  • 96 PAGES
  • FAMILY

In the spirit of his classic books on engineering and architecture, Macaulay winningly presents the art, architecture, design and construction of a 16th-century Turkish mosque. With a fictional tale and well-integrated (and superbly accurate) color illustrations. (TKY89, $19.00)

A Peace to End All Peace

A Peace to End All Peace

by David Fromkin

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 688 PAGES

Indispensable to understanding current tensions, alliances and the colonial legacy of the region, Fromkin's vivid tale of the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the making of the modern Middle East is out in a 20th anniversary edition. (ARB13, $22.00)

The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire

by Diarmuid Jeffreys

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • MAP

This full color map shows the full extent of the Ottoman Empire at its zenith in the 17th century. (MED156, $12.95)

 

Armies of the Ottoman Turks, 1300-1774


by David Nicolle

  • HISTORY
  • 1985
  • PAPER
  • 48 PAGES

Nicolle's little book neatly summarizes the military history of the Ottoman Turks. It's a well-illustrated introduction to Ottoman uniforms, tactics and history in the Men-at-Arms series. (TKY101, $17.95)

Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire

Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire


by Bernard Lewis

  • HISTORY
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 187 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

In this slim volume the great Islamic scholar describes the invasion of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453, evoking the city at this pivotal moment in its long history. (TKY17, $24.95)

Osman's Dream, The History of the Ottoman Empire

Osman's Dream, The History of the Ottoman Empire


by Caroline Finkel

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 688 PAGES

An ambitious, scholarly history of an 600-year empire that, at its height, streteched from Central Asia to the Levant, Danube and North Africa. (EUR200, $21.00)

The Fall of Constantinople 1453

The Fall of Constantinople 1453


by Steven Runciman

  • HISTORY
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A classic, wonderfully written history of the fall of Constantinople in 1493 and its consequences. Runciman, a noted British scholar, draws on many sources, both Greek and Muslim, in tracing this fateful time in the history of the city. Originally published in 1965. (TKY76, $19.99)

The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire


by Edward N. Luttwak

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 498 PAGES

Luttwak examines how the Byzantine Empire greatly outlasted the Roman Empire by adapting to changing circumstances, devising new ways of coping with enemies and relying more on persuasion than military strength. This interpretive account of Byzantine strategy, intelligence and diplomacy will appeal to scholars, classicists, military history buffs and soldiers. (TKY218, $35.00)

The Ottoman Centuries

The Ottoman Centuries


by Lord Kinross

  • HISTORY
  • 1988
  • PAPER
  • 638 PAGES

A richly detailed, engrossing history of the Ottoman Empire from its dawn in 1300 up to the foundation of the modern republic in 1923, enhanced by maps and photos. (ITL54, $18.99)

The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923

The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923


by Justin McCarthy

  • HISTORY
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 406 PAGES

A vivid overview of the history, customs and traditions of Ottoman Turkey, complete with maps and illustrations. (TKY36, $82.20)

Portrait of a Turkish Family

Portrait of a Turkish Family


by Irfan Orga

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 332 PAGES

This splendid memoir of life in Istanbul in the years surrounding World War I captures the spirit and flavor of the city in the last days of the Ottoman empire. Orga's son supplies an illuminating forward, filling in biographical details. (TKY83, $32.95)

The Grand Turk, Sultan Mehmet II

The Grand Turk, Sultan Mehmet II


by John Freely

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Freely's lively biography, subtitled Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas, captures the spirit of the times. (TKY198, $16.95)

Land of Marvels

Land of Marvels


by Barry Unsworth

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Unsworth has written a powerful, relevant thriller in which one archaeologist, excavating an Assyrian palace, must navigate the scramble for influence and oil in 1914 Mesopotamia. (IRQ25, $14.95)

The Bellini Card

The Bellini Card


by Jason Goodwin

  • MYSTERY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Jason Goodwin (Lords of the Horizon) artfully weaves murder and mystery with historical figures and marvelous setting in this third installment in the Edgar Award-winning series, in which Istanbul's new sultan dispatches Yashim to Venice solve a trail of murders associated with a highly-sought after painting, a portrait of none other than Mehmet the Conqueror by Gentile Bellini. The most prestigious Venetian artist of his day, Bellini (1429-1507) was indeed asked to paint the great Sultan Mehmet II (and the portrait attributed to him is in London's National Gallery). It follows The Jannisary Tree and The Snake Stone, and, both deliciously set amongst the muezzins and minarets of 1830s Istanbul. (TKY191, $15.00)

The Bridge on the Drina

The Bridge on the Drina


by Ivo Andric | Lovette F. Edwards

  • LITERATURE
  • 1977
  • PAPER
  • 318 PAGES

These linked stories by the Nobel-prize winning author capture the history and complexity of Christian and Muslim relations during Ottoman occupation. Hewn of stone, the bridge dividing the town of Visegrad was Andric's inspiration. (BLK59, $15.00)

The Janissary Tree

The Janissary Tree


by Jason Goodwin

  • MYSTERY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

With beautiful descriptions of Istanbul and its palaces, this engaging and bizarre historical mystery will keep you reading. The Ottoman Empire mysteries continue with The Snake Stone (TKY156, $14.00) and The Bellini Card (TKY191, $25.00), set in 1840s Venice. (TKY125, $15.00)

The Ottoman Cage

The Ottoman Cage


by Barbara Nadel

  • MYSTERY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

The second book in Nadel's Inspector Ikmen series, rich in descriptions of daily life in contemporary Istanbul. (TKY158, $14.95)

The Siege

The Siege


by Ismail Kadare

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

Kadare's poweful novel dramatizes the siege on a Christian fortress in the mountains of Albania by the Ottoman army -- a bloody, complex struggle peopled with memorable characters. (BLK136, $15.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.