In this dazzling evocation of the Ottoman Empire's power, Goodwin explores how the Ottomans rose and how, against all odds, they lingered on for 600 years. In doing so, he also offers a long look back to the origins of problems that plague present-day Kosovars and Serbs. Photos throughout.

For six hundred years, the Ottoman Empire swelled and declined. Islamic, martial, civilized, and tolerant, it advanced in three centuries from the dusty foothills of Anatolia to rule on the Danube and the Nile; at its height, Indian rajahs and the kings of France beseeched the empire's aid. In its last three hundred years the empire seemed ready to collapse, a prodigy of survival and decay. In this striking evocation of the empire's power, Jason Goodwin explores how the Ottomans rose and how, against all odds, they lingered on. In doing so, he also offers a long look back to the origins of problems that plague present-day Kosovars and Serbs.