Considering the vast history of the Ottoman Empire; Professor Harl sets the stage for what is to come with a consideration of key themes in the empire's journey from Sublime Porte to Sick Man of Europe; the distorting images of Orientalism.

Ottoman sultans trace their origins to the Oghuz Turks; their nomadic ways of life are transformed by Islam; the subsequent Seljuk Turks evolve from raiders to conquerors; Seljuk Turks clash with Western Europe's religious pilgrims.

Learning how the Seljuk sultans create an Islamic Turkish Anatolia, which becomes the heartland of future Ottoman sultans; exploring Seljuk developments in architecture, decorative art and religion; domed mosques, madrasas and whirling dervishes.

Meeting the sultans who turn the Ottoman sultanate into an imperial state; Orhan, who makes Bursa the state's capital; Murad I and Bayezid I, who incorporate Asia Minor into the Ottoman state; "the Thunderbolt", who forges an empire of tributaries.

The defeat of Sultan Bayezid by Tamerlane at the Battle of Angora reveals the fragile nature of the nascent Ottoman sultanate; focusing on the empire's recovery under Mehmed I Celebi and Murad II, who turn the empire into a bureaucratic monarchy.

Mehmet the Conqueror makes the Ottoman sultanate a leading Muslim power by 1481; investigating his rule, which includes the conquest of Constantinople, the remodeling of the Hagia Sophia and the construction of the mini-city of Topkapi.