Who was Abdülhamid II and how did he skillfully and cleverly interact with the various political and ethnic groups that were threatening his power? More importantly, how did these ‘dances’ contribute to the world being the way that it is today? This text begins with a personal look at Sultan Abdülhamid II. It discusses his personality, the face he showed to his people, the face he hid from them, his work practices, as well as his love for music, Sherlock Holmes stories, and a number of other hobbies. The second half demonstrates his political virtuosity. We see how he fought to contain the foreboding rise of the Young Turks, the underlying power current of the Masons, how he profited from the Chinese, dealt with the Zionists, the Vatican, the Samurai and the Americans without ever missing a beat. We can also see what Abdülhamid did in Chicago, what he thought of Americans and what he did when President Roosevelt gave the order to bomb Izmir.