Erdogan, Sema Nilgün : Sexual Life in Ottoman Society

his interesting book is a short review of literary sources in the Ottoman Empire, principally Turkey, from its beginning, dealing with the sexual side of society. It is fairly well written, although it provides little detail of the context within which such matters should be seen. Although Ottoman culture was basically Islamic, it was strongly coloured by local tradition, and this comes over particularly clearly in the wealth of artworks that are presented in the book. These, in fact, and very well produced and printed, and make the book a real treasure, with its many beautiful pictures of women in Turkish baths and Ottoman harems. I feel that more could have been made of how female sexuality formed a part of society, but as the manuscript sources used are part of the contemporary literature, with little added by the author in the way of sociological or historical analysis, the book is hardly comprehensive.