Ottoman 1912 Comprehensive World History Vol 6 The Crusades with Maps Ahmed Refik
Title: Büyük Tarih-i Umûmî (Comprehensive World History) – Volume VI, The Middle Ages and the Crusades – Ahmed Refik, 1328 (c. 1912)
Description:
Büyük Tarih-i Umûmî (Comprehensive World History) is a six-volume comprehensive history of the world by Ahmed Refik and represents an important late Ottoman attempt to present world history through a modern, systematic and accessible historical narrative. The series moved beyond a simple chronology of rulers and wars, approaching history through the development of civilizations, societies, political institutions and intellectual life. Its richly illustrated presentation, with numerous historical images, plates and maps, also distinguishes the series from many other Ottoman Turkish history books of the period and makes it particularly significant in the history of late Ottoman publishing and historical education.
Ahmed Refik Altınay (1881–1937) was one of the most productive and influential historians and popular writers of the late Ottoman and early Republican periods. Widely remembered by the epithet “Tarihi Sevdiren Adam” (“The Man Who Made History Loved”), he played an important role in bringing historical subjects to a broader reading public through an engaging and accessible style. Originally trained as a military officer at Kuleli Military High School and the Ottoman Military Academy, he later taught history and geography, served as a professor of Ottoman History at the Darülfünun, and was among the founding members of the Turkish Historical Society.
The sixth and final volume of the series focuses extensively on the Crusades (Ehl-i Salib), one of the major political and military developments of the Middle Ages. The volume follows the chronology of the Crusades and examines the successive campaigns between Western Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, placing these events within the broader political and religious history of the medieval world.
Particular attention is given to the Latin and Frankish principalities established in the East during the Crusader period. Their political organization, relations with the surrounding Islamic states and their role in the wider history of the eastern Mediterranean are examined as part of the narrative. The volume therefore presents the Crusades not simply as a series of military expeditions, but within the wider political and civilizational interactions between Europe and the Islamic world.
The work concludes by considering the longer-lasting historical and civilizational effects associated with the Crusades, including their impact on both European and Islamic societies. Throughout the volume, numerous historical illustrations and maps accompany the text, providing visual material for the places, peoples and events discussed and continuing the richly illustrated character that distinguishes Büyük Tarih-i Umûmî.
Published in 1328 (c. 1912) by Kitabhane-i İslâm ve Askerî (İbrahim Hilmi) in Istanbul and printed at Agob Matyosyan Matbaası, this volume completes Ahmed Refik's six-volume world-history project. Together with the preceding volumes, it forms an ambitious late Ottoman attempt to present world history through political, cultural and civilizational development, making the complete series particularly significant for collectors and researchers of Ottoman historical publishing.
Key Features:
• Title: Büyük Tarih-i Umûmî (Comprehensive World History) – Volume VI, The Middle Ages and the Crusades
• Author: Ahmed Refik Altınay (1881–1937)
• Series: Sixth and Final Volume of a Six-Volume Comprehensive World History
• Subject: Medieval history and the Crusades (Ehl-i Salib)
• Historical Coverage: The Crusades, their chronology, the Latin and Frankish principalities established in the East, and the wider historical consequences of the Crusader period
• Political History: Relations between the Crusader states, European powers and the Islamic states of the eastern Mediterranean
• Civilizational Context: The long-term historical and civilizational effects of the Crusades on Europe and the Islamic world
• Illustrations: Numerous historical illustrations and visual plates
• Maps: Numerous historical and geographical maps
• Publication Year: 1328 (approximately 1912)
• Place of Publication: Istanbul
• Publisher: Kitabhane-i İslâm ve Askerî (İbrahim Hilmi)
• Printer: Agob Matyosyan Matbaası
• Language: Ottoman Turkish
• Historical Significance: The concluding volume of Ahmed Refik's ambitious six-volume world-history project, devoted extensively to one of the defining political and religious developments of the medieval period
• Author Significance: Ahmed Refik Altınay was a prominent late Ottoman and early Republican historian, professor of Ottoman History at the Darülfünun, and a founding member of the Turkish Historical Society
• Collectible Significance: Particularly valuable for collectors and researchers of Ottoman Turkish books, medieval history, the Crusades, Byzantine and Islamic history, historical geography, cartography, Ottoman publishing and the intellectual history of the late Ottoman period