AllMovie

Originally aired on PBS, this last of three episodes in the documentary Islam: Empire of Faith covers the history of the expansionist Ottoman Empire and its ambitious sultans through the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent. As Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley explains, a key successful aspect of the Ottoman method of expansion was to leave in place the clerks -- the bureaucracy -- of the conquered territories. The Sunni Ottoman regime had more trouble from their rival Safavid Dynasty of Shiite Muslims than from their vanquished Christian subjects. Highlights of this program include footage from old Constantinople and from Istanbul, marvelous Islamic architecture, and mosaics and paintings portraying historical events. Expert commentary is provided by such scholars as Esin Atil, historian of Islamic art, Walter B. Denny of the University of Massachusetts, Victoria Holbrook of Ohio State University, Ahmet Karamustafa of Washington University, Cornell Fleischer of the University of Chicago, and John Renard of St. Louis University.