Essays illuminate the lives of ordinary people who lived in
the Ottoman era.
Drawing from centuries-old court records, “The Other
Faces of Empire” traces the lives of “outstage” people in
vast empire lands. Each essay in the collection tells the story
of an ordinary person navigating the Ottoman Empire. On
this journey, we meet colorful and quite extraordinary
figures: Deli Şaban, “naughty and haramzade” with his
unsuccessful suicide attempts; Diva ...