The story of Ottoman history is a complicated and complex one. It involves not only the Ottoman dynasty itself but also the many peoples who operated and ruled the empire and were ruled by it – the Turks, the Arabs, the Serbs, the Greeks, the Armenians, the Jews, the Bulgars, the Hungarians, the Albanians, and many others. It constitutes the history of the major religious groups among the subjects, the Muslims, the Jews, and the Christians. It takes into account relations between the Ottomans and their neighbors in Europe and Asia, complicated stories of wars, conquests, diplomacy, and territorial losses that much later were called the Eastern Question. It includes the history of the political, administrative, and social institutions incorporated into this multinational and multicultural empire. It demands discussion of the rise and fall, the birth, efflorescence, and decline of the empire.

To undertake such a task requires considerable choice and selection. The work has been divided into two volumes. This, the first, discusses the Ottoman Empire from its foundations through its apogee in the sixteenth century and subsequent decline until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its companion volume, Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808–1975, will continue the story through the major reform efforts made during the nineteenth century to save the empire, its collapse as a consequence of World War I, and the birth of the Republic of Turkey in the subsequent half-century. The main themes of Ottoman history such as the evolution of central institutions and leadership, foreign relations, and social and economic change, have been emphasized, while provincial developments are included mainly to demonstrate specific issues or problems faced by the empire.