Caroline finkels book osmans dream is a useful book on the history of the ottoman empire it starts with the dream of the first sultan osman he is said to have dreamt about a large tree growing from his navel its shade encompassed large parts of the world including distant mountains and mighty rivers. Caroline finkel has lived in istanbul for many years and traveled widely in turkey and the former ottoman lands she has a doctorate in ottoman history from the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london osmans dream is her third book she currently divides her time between istanbul and london. Osmans dream the history of the ottoman empire by caroline finkel 2007 04 24 amazonde caroline finkel bucher. Osmans dream the history of the ottoman empire caroline finkel the ottoman empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in world history its reach extended to three continents and it survived for more than six centuries but its history is too often colored by the memory of its bloody final throes on the battlefields of world war . Caroline finkel has lived in istanbul for many years and traveled widely in turkey and the former ottoman lands she has a doctorate in ottoman history from the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london osmans dream is her third book she currently divides her time between istanbul and london