After summarizing the formation of the Ottoman Empire during its classical era, Donald Quataert, a distinguished Ottomanologist and close associate of Halil Inalcik, focuses his study on its later period, from the 18th to the 20th century. His interest is not monopolized, as is usually the case, by the political and military history of the Ottoman state, but also turns to the economic and social history woven around the "civil society." Thus, in addition to the forms of governance and the ways of conducting internal and external politics, demographics, agriculture, craftsmanship, trade, transportation, and popular culture are examined and correlated with each other, with particular emphasis on the critical issues of gender relations, identity, and minorities. Moreover, this study, which opens by examining the position of the Ottoman Empire in European and global history, closes by tracing its legacy in the regions that once belonged to it. The volume includes rare images, genealogical and chronological maps, and thematic bibliographic guides. [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]