"The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650 surveys the history of the Ottoman Empire from its obscure origins in the fourteenth century, through its rise to world-power status in the sixteenth century to the troubled times of the seventeenth century. Going beyond a simple narrative of Ottoman achievements and key events, Colin Imber uses original sources and research, as well as the rapidly expanding body of modern scholarship on the subject, to show how this complex state worked in practice." "It is essential reading for all those with an interest not only in the Ottomans but also in the late medieval and early modern history of Western Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East."--Jacket.