A comprehensive collection of works by Halil İnalcık, one of the world's undisputed greatest names in history, examining the Ottoman Empire's rule over the Middle East and the Balkans through the lenses of state, society, economy, and politics. In this work, İnalcık traces the historical roots of the Ottoman state tradition back to Turkish and Iranian political thought in the Kutadgu Bilig and explores the Ottoman succession system within the broader Turkish imperial tradition. He discusses the power dynamics between Mehmed the Conqueror and Otman Baba, a fascinating dervish of the early Ottoman world, as well as the concept of the state and the law-making process during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. Furthermore, the book reveals the intricate details of market competition between the Ottoman Empire and Britain in the Middle East.

In the subsequent chapters, İnalcık traces the agreement between the Pope and Bayezid II regarding Prince Cem (Cem Sultan) and analyzes Ottoman-French cooperation in the 16th-century Mediterranean. He also presents detailed accounts of the representations of power among the Russian Tsardom, the Crimean Khanate, and the Ottoman Empire. The Middle East and the Balkans Under Ottoman Rule is a thought-provoking resource that provides readers with broad, enlightening historical perspectives.