Jeremy Salt's latest work The Last Ottoman Wars, exploring the trials of the last fifty years of the Ottoman Empire and their impact on Muslim populations, fits into the framework of his previous work, such as The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands. Namely, outside interference in the Middle East caused, or at least exacerbated, upheaval in the region. The Last Ottoman Wars examines how the suffering of Muslim populations in the last half-century of the Ottoman Empire was overshadowed by European powers’ emphasis on the suffering of Christian populations and their economic concerns. Salt moves his narrative from the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) through the Turkish War for Independence (1919–22). Following this chronology, Salt effectively maintains and supports his theme. Overall, the book is well-written and clearly structured, moving the reader through the last five decades of Ottoman history.

Salt's stated intent is to provide an “…extended overview of late Ottoman history. While it is hoped that it will hold the attention of the specialist scholar, the primary intended audience is the general reader” (p. 8). In this regard, Salt is successful. He provides a detailed synthesis of current secondary literature in English and Turkish on the topic in question, proving ample notes and support for his overall thesis. In many ways, The Last Ottoman Wars echoes Justin McCarthy's Death and Exile and Sean McMeekin's, Ottoman Endgame, and in some ways, it is a synthesis of these works with updated English and Turkish literature. Salt's work emphasizes the trauma of Muslim populations in the interimperial struggles. The work generally follows a chronological approach with an emphasis on the Balkans and Eastern Anatolia. He effectively sets up this framework, highlighting the interruption of the Ottoman system by European economic penetration and political support for Ottoman Christians’ nationalist aspirations in the Balkans and Eastern Anatolia.

The Last Ottoman Wars ties together and interconnects the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), the Balkan Wars, the World War I, and the Turkish War of Independence along with the results of these conflicts, specifically the refugee crises of 1877–78 and 1912–13. Even though historians often imagine these separate events as distinct historical periods (the Hamidian, Second Constitutional, and Republican periods, respectively), Salt describes them as a sustained period of misery in the experience of Ottoman Muslims. Salt seeks to highlight the mutual suffering of both Muslim and non-Muslim populations during the period in question, attempting to capture the lived experience during a period of sustained violence and upheaval, rather than simply the battles and political events.

Salt's work would be an effective text for a course on the late Ottoman empire. Read not as a counternarrative to the well-known works on the Armenian Genocide and the trials of Ottoman Christians, but rather as a supporting narrative, this work would provide an interlinked context.

Salt seeks to expand general audiences’ understanding of the complexities of interethnic violence, massacres, and genocide in early 20th century by providing a detailed description of the build-up to these events by highlighting European imperialism, the Balkan Wars, and the violent nationalist activities of several Christian groups. Although specialists will already be familiar with the story Salt laid out in The Last Ottoman Wars, the general reader will find it an enlightening, current, and useful introduction to the field.