An illustrated popular history that attempts to demystify the often enigmatic, feared, and misunderstood Ottoman Empire. Historian Wheatcroft (Univ. of Sterling in Scotland) begins with Mehmet's taking of Constantinople in 1453 and ends with Ataturk and the founding of modern Turkey after the First World War. Wheatcroft claims that the Ottomans are still largely reviled, a legacy of the Cruel Turk of legend (and indeed of fact). But this view seems somewhat dated now. His book doesn't contain anything startlingly new as far as the ``inner life'' of the Ottomans is concerned, nor is this culture ``shamefully neglected,'' as claimed. However, that life is perennially fascinating to the West, and Wheatcroft's evenhanded, urbane approach is admirably gripping, especially when recounting the great dramas of Ottoman history: the crushing of the Janissaries by the reforming sultan Mahmud in 1826, the agonizing and unsuccessful siege of Vienna in 1529 (with its fascinating account of Ottoman siege techniques), and the endless palace coups ending in ``the silken cord,'' the execution by strangulation reserved for the nobility. We see both Ottoman strengths (a huge military machine capable of massive deployments) and weaknesses (imperviousness to change, corruption, and the volatility of court politics rooted in the Yeni Saray, the palace built by Mehmet to which the harem was later moved). Wheatcroft explains the intricate hierarchies of Ottoman life and shows how the West created an image of its most formidable enemy by turns picturesquely orientalizing, as in Craig's picture of a pipe- smoking pasha having a petitioner grovel under his foot, and grimly factual, as in Mayer's 1800 picture of an Ottoman road flanked by the impaled corpses of criminals. Wheatcroft's contention that Ottomanism is a ``state of mind'' that has survived in the Middle East is less easy to verify. He has, though, drawn up a readable and colorful portrait of a complex history.
Pub Date: May 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-670-84412-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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