The Sultan's Fleet

"An indispensable book about one of the most influential but misunderstood phenomena of the past few hundred years ... Immensely ambitious, informative and important. * Muslim World Book Review * Through the colorful life stories of admirals, the book offers a delightful and informative panorama of Ottoman naval history. * Middle East Quarterly * ""This is a story not of ships but of men--the men who led the sultan’s fleet. Turks, Greeks, Italians, and others, they came from all walks of life: pirates, slaves, or members of the sultan’s court. This is also the story of naval competition between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, and the lives and careers of several Ottoman admirals who were intertwined with this rivalry. Isom-Verhaaren deftly interweaves these tensions with the history of Ottoman naval victories and defeats, giving us a new perspective on the Ottomans’ role in the Mediterranean. The outcome of its naval warfare with Western Europe may have had less to do with the strength or weakness of the empire than with internal patronage and politics, the structure of the ruling elite, and that elite’s concept of its identity."" * Linda Darling, The University of Arizona, USA * “The Sultan’s Fleet is an insightful, people-centered history of the early modern Ottoman navy based on original Ottoman sources. It challenges us to revise our understanding of how the Ottoman Empire remained so powerful for so long, and will prove immensely helpful in building a truly balanced, comparative history of the early modern Mediterranean world.” * Douglas Howard, Calvin University, USA * “Recovering the sweep of maritime history from the medieval and early modern Ottoman world, Professor Isom-Verhaaren challenges the established narrative of Ottoman history as one of a land-based empire by bringing its naval component to the fore—thereby demonstrating that the achievements of its sailors were of critical importance to Ottoman fortunes.” * John Curry, University of Nevada, USA *"