In Islamic law the world was made up of the House of Islam and the House of War with the Ottoman Sultan--the perceived successor to the Caliphs--supreme ruler of the Islamic world. However, Suraiya Faroqhi demonstrates that there was no iron curtain between the Ottoman and other worlds but rather a long-established network of diplomatic, financial, cultural and religious connections. These extended to the empires of Asia and the modern states of Europe. Faroqhi's book is based on a huge study of original and early modern sources, including diplomatic records, travel and geographical writing, as well as personal accounts.

The Ottoman Empire and its conflicts provide one of the longest continuous narratives in military history. The Ottomans were never overthrown by a foreign power, and no usurper succeeded in taking the throne. This volume covers the rise of the Ottomans, and their early years of fighting for a foothold across the Bosphorous, before exploring the main campaigns and the part played by such elite troops as the Janissaries and the Sipahis. At its height under Suleyman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became the most powerful state in the world - a multinational, multilingual empire that stretched from Vienna to the upper Arab peninsula.