From the «Terror of the World» to the «Sick Man of Europe» European Images of Ottoman Empire and Society from the Sixteenth Century to the Nineteenth

"It has been a well-known fact that since the Renaissance the European world had been intensely investigating the eastern countries. These early modern accounts on the East embody crucial historical material. Moreover, these perceptions on the East are also significant in so far as they reflect the formation of European self-understanding. This excellent book examines these sources in such a way as to reveal and interpret the distinctive features of western thought." (Ilber Ortayli, Galatasaray University, Istanbul)