In light of the many texts that have been published recently which explore the long history of the Ottoman Empire, Harem Ghosts focuses specifically upon making sense of roughly the last 150 years of the empire's existence via the royal tomb of Sultan Mahmud II as a window onto the past. The authors, using original documentation, provide the most detailed written study ever of Istanbul's most prestigious burial ground, which evolved into the national pantheon of the Ottoman Empire, “the Ottoman Westminster Abbey” as one local English language newspaper described it in 1883. The authors also journey to the Ottoman past through burial traditions and customs, the architecture of cemeteries, and the life stories of eminent Ottoman figures. Within art and literature, death was a familiar companion to Ottomans. Thus, Ottomans treasured the site as a “National Necropolis of the Noted” and as a national symbol of the benevolence of the House of Osman toward its subjects. This eternal resting place of members of the imperial family as well as prominent persons from political and literary circles turned out to be an architectural jewel.

The first of the five chapters depicts the death and the burial of Mahmud II, who requested to be buried on Divan Yolu, a public arena which is at the very center of the city, close to public access. Immediately after the burial, his successor Abdulmecid I ordered the construction of the mausoleum complex. The authors agreed that Ottoman archives are notoriously silent when it comes to attributing credit for architecture of this era. Garabed Balian of the Balian dynasty of Armenian architects in service to the Ottoman court in the nineteenth century has been traditionally credited with designing the Mahmud II tomb. The tomb was built during the Tanzimat era when the Ottoman state attempted to “reorganize” itself by borrowing ideas from Europe and incorporating them into Ottoman culture. The architectural synthesis of Ottoman and European design in Mahmud II's tomb constituted the first representative of what came to be called the Tanzimat style in Ottoman architecture (10).

In the second chapter, numerous details of Mahmud II's chamber are elaborated vividly: the sun symbol of the Ottoman monarchy, pointing the direction to Mecca placed on the rooftop; quivers and swords on the iron entrance gate; Sultan Abdulmecid's tugra (cypher) over the eastern entrance gate; the sun and crescent motif within the frieze; Hasim Efendi's Qurʾanic calligraphy encircling the room; the water fountain which symbolizes life over death and the sultan as the beneficent provider of water to the community (16–18); and the sphere atop the tomb symbolizing the rational world view of the Enlightenment. In both architecture and decoration, the overall effect of the complex is very European-inspired with Ottoman variants in the Empire style in neoclassical architecture (21). The tomb was another manifestation in stone and mortar of the ideals of order, justice, religion, charity, and the generosity of the Imperial Family.

The authors in their third chapter broaden their analysis with an accurate argument as to how a single cemetery can offer chances to learn the culture at the top ranks of Ottoman society. Mahmud II's chamber and tombstones in the garden graveyard marked a change in funerary practice in the empire. Tombstones began to appear as social markers. Different motifs decorated the tombstones, providing profound material about the deceased. Motifs were reserved differently for men and women. Women's tombstones were fashioned in flower ornaments, while men's were shown with fez or headgear giving clues to the ranks and the titles. Poetic epitaphs on gravestones which used to be inscribed in Arabic were now beginning to be replaced by Ottoman Turkish epitaphs.

The short fourth chapter focuses on the three monarchs buried in Mahmud II's chamber: Mahmud II; his son Sultan Abdulaziz, whose cause of death is controversial; and his grandson Sultan Abdulhamid II, who was buried on the site on 10 February 1918, during the closing months of World War I. There are fifteen other royal persons in the chamber: twelve are princes, princesses, and their children, while three are harem ladies.

The final section, which constitutes more than half of the book, entitled From Garden to Graveyard, illustrates the story of the flower garden, in which the tomb was set, and its radical metamorphosis into a burial ground. Between 1854 and 1924, 138 sarcophagi and tombstones came to decorate the garden. Hierarchy was maintained at all times. While the garden served for burial of prestigious commoners, the mausoleum housed the Imperial Family and its concubines. Of the 147 persons buried in the garden, there are biographies of 94 in the book arranged within categories that best describe the profession or calling of the deceased in life (121). Among them are ambassadors, artists, grand viziers, generals, national heroes, physicians, and religious figures.

This book has great value for cultural scholars and those engaged in heritage studies of the Middle East. The work deals both with sepulchres far back in Islamic-Ottoman cultural history as well as neoclassical architecture in the last century of the Ottoman Empire. By looking at gender and the social status of Ottoman tombstones, the book also allows readers to gain a clearer perspective on actual life in the late Ottoman Empire. Readers who want a detailed travel guide to the mausoleum will also enjoy parts of this book. Brookes and Ziyrek utilized an impressively wide range of archival sources. Besides opening new avenues in studies of Ottoman architecture of cemeteries, the book contributes new content in terms of biographical information on eminent persons. However, because of the nature of this book there is little discussion in it; the authors for the most part agreed to provide detailed information on the tombs and their contents, or list the biographical information supplied to them by archival research. Everyone interested in the study of burial culture and the architecture of cemeteries in the Ottoman Empire is greatly indebted to Douglas Brookes and Ali Ziyrek for their thorough use of illustrations and images throughout Harem Ghosts.

It is not likely that Harem Ghosts will be adopted for classroom use because of its somewhat restricted breadth of topic. Nevertheless, having numerous Ottoman-Turkish texts accurately translated into English is certainly a benefit for international academia, and for such an opportunity presented in this book, we can be grateful indeed.