David Nicolle
Ottoman Fortifications 1300-1700
Fortress 95 (Osprey, 2010), 64pp. $18.95. ISBN 978-1846035036.
David Nicolle, a regular contributor to Osprey’s series of illustrated introductions to aspects of military history, has now produced one of the most valuable of these booklets. Nicolle is an expert on the arms, armor, and fortifications of the eastern Mediterranean from the time of the Crusades through the seventeenth century, and he brings his expertise to bear on Ottoman fortifications from the Balkans to Iraq and Egypt and the Red Sea. The result is an excellent introduction to the topic for students and a handy reference for scholars.
Nicolle and illustrator Adam hook make ideal use of the Osprey format with the perfect mix of regional maps showing the placement of Ottoman fortifications, photographs of the often substantial remains of the forts (many taken by the author himself over his decades of study in the region), plans of the fortifications’ layouts, and illustrations of the forts in use. Construction techniques are also well described and illustrated. The Ottoman fortification program is thus tied closely to the geographic and strategic challenges it was designed to meet, while the tactical siting and design of different forts can be seen clearly to have made use of the local terrain.
Nicolle’s text is clear and well organized. A chapter on the design and development of Ottoman fortifications, including the ways in which they did (and sometimes did not) respond to changing technological challenges, shows that the apparent failure of Ottoman fortification design to follow the practices of the trace Italienne style developed in western Europe. After 1525, the Ottoman building campaigns relate partly to the lack of major offensive threats from enemies with large artillery trains for most of the Empire’s history, but it is also worth noticing that key fortifications along the Dardanelles, for instance, were indeed updated right through the nineteenth century. Subsequent chapters examine the forts as living spaces, their use during war, and their “aftermath”—the history of the sites after 1700. While in some cases, such as the Dardanelles fortifications, this meant updating and continued military functionality, some were left to decay. Most interestingly, a number of major sites that lost their military significance but were well placed on travel routes were maintained and even restored as nineteenth-century tourist destinations, a fascinating bit of cultural history woven into an otherwise military story. This leads to a final chapter on the sites today that serves as a sort of tourist guide itself.
Unlike some titles in the series, Nicolle’s includes a substantial and up-to-date bibliography and a useful glossary of terms. Overall, the quality and relevance of the illustration program and the scholarship of the text and its apparatus make this an outstanding example of just how useful and fun the Osprey series can be.
