Forgotten fire

I loved the Forgotten Fire. It was heartbreaking, interesting and historical. It was shocking to find out about the Armenian genocide. I did not learn about it before.

This book can be used as a source, as a way to always remember the Armenian holocaust, as a way to remember what the Ottoman Empire was about, and as a piece of literature that can never be forgotten. It was such a heart breaking historical fiction. Every word that was said by that Armenian orphan was somewhat inspiring. The author did an excellent job putting this book together. Any book that takes 10 years to be written deserves an applause.

The Janissary Tree

Reading the Janissary tree was quite an adventure. I enjoyed the book very much and I had fun reading it. The book was very entertaining and funny. Jason Goodwin did a great job on this book. There were many things that I liked and some things that I did not like. I liked the style in which the story was written, but I did not like the fact that Mr. Goodwin used too many Turkish terms because someone who is not in a history class would not be able to understand it. I believe the book great source to know about what happened to the Janissaries and what was happening in Istanbul. It is also an easy way to remember important facts about the Ottoman Empire.

I believe that the revolts of the Janissaries could have been avoided. I also believe that the Sultan believed a little too much in his soldiers and that if he had been more careful, the Janissary problem would not have happened. The Sultan should have had a plan B in case something happened. The Tanzimat changed the Ottoman Empire completely. Some call it the decline of the Ottoman Empire , but I call it modernization.