The Ottoman chronicles recount that the first sultan, Osman, dreamt of the dynasty he would found - a tree, fully-formed, emerged from his navel, symbolising the vigour of his successors and the extent of their domains. This is the first book to tell the full story of the Ottoman dynasty that for six centuries held sway over territories stretching, at their greatest, from Hungary to the Persian Gulf, and from North Africa to the Caucasus. Understanding the realization of Osman's vision is essential for anyone who seeks to understand the modern world.

Caroline Finkel is a British historian and writer based in Turkey; she has a doctorate in Ottoman history from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Her book Osman's Dream, History of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923 was published by John Murray in England in 2005, and by Basic Books in the United States (ISBN 0-465-02396-7). A Greek translation appeared in 2007, Dutch in 2008, and Russian in 2010. The Turkish edition, Rüyadan İmparatorluğa: Osmanlı (2007) is in its fourth printing.

She has recently co-authored a guidebook to Turkey's first long distance equestrian, hiking and biking route, the Evliya Çelebi Way, one of Turkey's new culture routes. It is available in English and Turkish.

Other works include The administration of warfare: the Ottoman military campaigns in Hungary, 1593-1606 (1988), and The seismicity of Turkey and adjacent areas : a historical review, 1500-1800 (1995, also in Turkish), written with N. N. Ambraseys. She holds honorary fellowships at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Exeter in England.