Volume 2 examines the period from the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 to the accession of Ahmed I in 1603.

1. Introduction Suraiya Faroqhi; Part I. An Expanding Empire: 2. The Ottomans, 1451-1603: a political history Kate Fleet; 3. Ottoman expansion in Europe, c.1453-1606 Palmira Brummett; 4. Ottoman expansion in the east Ebru Boyar; 5. Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean Kate Fleet; 6. Ottoman expansion in the Red Sea Salih Ozbaran; Part II. Government, Economic Life and Society: 7. Government, administration and law Colin Imber; 8. The Ottoman government and economic life Murat Cizakca; 9. Ottoman armies and warfare Geza David; 10. Religious institutions, policies and lives Gilles Veinstein; 11. Ottoman population Suraiya Faroqhi; Part III. Culture and the Arts: 12. Intellectual life Gottfried Hagen; 13. The visual arts Cigdem Kafescioglu; 14. The making of a literary tradition Selim Kuru.