Humanitas publishing house invites you on Tuesday, February 13, at 19:00 at the Humanitas bookstore in Cișmigiu (Bld. Regina Elisabeta, 38) to a meeting with historian Mark David Behr, professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, historian Marian Coman and writer Sabina Fati about the volume The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphsa fascinating new look at the history of the Ottoman Empire.

From ancient historiographers to modern ones, the prevailing image is of Ottoman invaders and barbarians attacking the fabric of Europe, almost a quarter of which they controlled at the height of their power. Historian Mark David Behr surprises us with a new vision: the perspective of the Ottomans themselves.

After conquering the Second Rome, the heart of the Byzantine Empire, in 1453 Muhammad II added the title of Caesar: the Ottomans now considered themselves descendants of Rome. In their empire religious tolerance became a reality long before the West learned this lesson. Also ignored is the role they played in European history during the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, as well as the Age of Discovery and the Industrial Revolution.

The volume offers a fascinating panorama of more than six centuries of Ottoman history, from a small beylik in 13th-century Anatolia to a multi-ethnic empire between East and West, bearing the stamp of Turko-Mongol, Islamic and Byzantine heritage. This history of the Ottoman Empire, told by Professor Behr, becomes an integral part of European history.

“Incisive analysis, in the light of which the Ottomans lose their exoticism, but become even more fascinating.” — Publishers Weekly