An Ottoman Traveller

'Evliya elebi was the widest-eyed, most intensely curious and prolific travel writer the Ottoman world ever produced. A learned and perceptive gentleman-observer from courtly Istanbul at the height of its power, Evilya's work records and preserves an entire world otherwise lost to history. A proper edition of his massive work has long been overdue, and Robert Dankoff magnificently translates the highlights a book which is likely to change for ever our perceptions of the Ottoman Empire.' William Dalrymple