In 1221 on the plains of current-day Turkmenistan lay the city of Merv. The town faced a Mongol besiegement under one of Genghis Khan’s sons and opened its gates in the hopes of experiencing mercy.

The Ottoman and Russian empires fought 12 wars over four centuries, and each one shifted the balance of power. What began as ...

Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace was the seat of power for the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years. A vast 700,000-square-meter ...

In the late 16th century, hundreds of bandits on horseback stormed through the countryside of Ottoman Anatolia raiding villages, inciting violence and destabilizing the sultan’s grip on power Four ...

Douglas A. Howard stresses the crucial role of the Ottoman sultans and their extended household, discusses the evolution of the empire's fiscal model, and analyzes favorite works of Ottoman literature ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Beams of sunlight cut through the steam like lasers, while bathers loll ...

The Israeli government has unanimously approved a proposal to recognize the mass killing of Armenian Christians by the ...

WHEN a Serb gunman shot an Austrian archduke in the summer of 1914, the nations of Europe tumbled into war with all the grace of bowling pins. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, whose ally Russia ...

The 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was more than a systematic ethnic purge. It also was a desperate effort to save a once-great empire. As the world prepares to mark the 100th anniversary ...

When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. By Ian Morris GOD’S SHADOW Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World By ...