The Well-Protected Domains: Ideology and the Legitimation of Power in the Ottoman Empire, 1876-1909

How did the late Ottoman Empire grapple with the challenge of modernity and survive? Rejecting explanations based on the concept of an "Islamic empire" or the tired paradigm of the "Eastern Question," Selim Deringil focuses on imperial ideology and draws out the striking similarities between the Ottoman and other late legitimist empires like Russia, Austria and Japan. Deringil’s vivid narrative traces the Ottoman state’s pursuit of legitimization in public ceremonies, in the iconography of buildings, music, the honors system and the language of the chancery; in its proto-nationalist reformulation of Islamic legal practices; in its efforts to inculcate, through an expanded education system, the idea of an "Ottoman citizenry"; and in the efforts of the Ottoman elite to present a "civilized" image abroad.