The preparation of an "Ottoman Civilization" book was decided upon at a meeting held in March 1999 within the framework of the "Commemorative Program of the 700th Anniversary of the Ottoman Cultural and Scientific Heritage" under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Culture M İstemihan Talay. It was envisaged to have the book address both Turkish and foreign readers and at the same time, to have a scholarly attribute with convincing evidence. Minister Talay dwelled upon the point in this book of "promoting our Ottoman cultural and scientific heritage, both in Turkey and abroad in the most effective manner and transferring it to future generations". It was decided that the book would be prepared for publication by a delegation composed of Halil inalcık, Günsel Renda, Ekmeleddin ihsanoğlu, Orhan Koloğlu and Tuncel Acar, under the coordination of Undersecretary Fikret N Üçcan. Halil inalcik was selected as the general editor. Günsel Renda undertook the editing of the art sections requiring special knowledge on art. Initially, it was thought to prepare the book in one volume each in Turkish and in English. In subsequent meetings, it was deemed suitable to prepare the book in two volumes each in Turkish and in English, including history and science in volume one and culture and art in volume two. As a result of the expansion of the plan and the authors treating the subjects in a broader scope than anticipated, the size of the volumes increased considerably. Additionally, due to the fact that the English translations were checked by the authors, the preparatory phase of this book, to which over twenty authors contributed, took longer than expected. Furthermore, due to translation and technical difficulties, it became necessary to remove some subjects initially envisaged to be included in the book. Essentially, the subjects of high Ottoman culture were treated in the book and the folk culture was only treated when folk literature, tariqahs and performing arts were discussed (See Introduction). The Ottoman Civilization book has been designed in nine chapters. It includes chapters on the "State and Economy", "Religion and Thought", "Science and Education", "Communications" and "Daily Life", "Literature", "Architecture and Fine Arts", "Performing Arts", "Music" and "the Mutual Cultural Influences between the Ottomans and Europeans". Each section was written by expert scholars, well known in their fields. An "Introduction" on the concepts of culture and civilization, the Ottoman patrimonial high civilization and folk culture and the "lineage" of the Ottoman dynasty, a "chronology" and a "general index" have been added to the book. Each author has added a bibliography and glossary to his/her article, depending on the scope of the subject. A bibliography has been given at the end of each chapter. Some of the authors have made additions and changes in the English translation of their articles for explanation and clarification. About 800 photographs have been added to the book. Here we express our gratitude to Ersu Pekin for his valuable work in the selection of the photographs and as an expert participant in the design of the entire book. Thus, with these selected photographs, it is as though the Ottoman Civilization book had been written a second time. The photographs were selected from the collections of the Turkish and foreign museums and libraries.