Violence in Istanbul under Abdülhamit II

'Crimes of Honor, Drunken Brawls and Murder: Violence in Istanbul under Abdülhamid II' by Roger A. Deal (Libra, 218 pages, 70TL)

Opinions about the era of Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamit II (1876-1909) are highly politicized in today's Turkey. Abdülhamit emphasized pan-Islamist Sunni Muslim identity to try to bolster his dwindling empire, and he is today idolized by religious conservatives who see him as the last great symbol of Ottoman Islamic pride. A hugely popular TV drama currently broadcast on state-run TRT, "Payitaht" (The Last Emperor), depicts Abdülhamit's years in power through a spectacular, darkly conspiratorial worldview. 

This revisionism has little regard for the facts. In one unintentionally funny episode of "Payitaht," Abdülhamit has British Queen Victoria poisoned and is the only person who knows the remedy. Through such serials, Turkish conservatives look back to historical events to explain contemporary politics and sooth themselves with an airbrushed version of the past. There has also been a surge in popular, historically dubious books on the era. Bending facts to fit a more flattering narrative, they generally tell us more about today's fantasies than they do about the era itself. 

I often wonder what serious historians make of all this. "Crimes of Honor, Drunken Brawls and Murder: Violence in Istanbul under Abdülhamid II" by University of South Carolina associate professor Roger Deal is a stimulating work of ground-level social history that avoids looking for seductive but misleading patterns in the era. It stands in contrast with much delusional narrative history, presenting findings about a highly politicized time without straining to draw sweeping conclusions. 

Deal deliberately excludes...