"Ever since an Ottoman army led by Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453, it has been common to see the Ottoman Empire as the Islamic, Asian antithesis of the Christian, European West.

"Between 1911 and 1923, a series of wars-- chief among them World War I-- would engulf the Ottoman Empire and its successor states. It is a story we think we know well, but, as Sean McMeekin

"...Focuses on the inner life of the Ottoman world as seen through western eyes." -- Cover.

"The Mapmaker's Daughter, a historical novel set in the 16th century, is the confession of Nurbanu, born Cecilia Baffo Veniero - the mesmerizing, illegitimate Venetian who became the most po