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Suleiman the Magnificent, most glorious of the Ottoman sultans, kept Europe atremble for nearly half a century. In a few years he led his army as far as the gates of Vienna, made himself master of the Mediterranean and established his court in Baghdad. Faced with this redoubtable champion, who regarded it as his duty to extend the boundaries of Islam farther and farther, the Christian world struggled to unite against him. 'The Shadow of God on Earth', but also an expert politician and all-powerful despot, Suleiman ruled the state firmly with the help of his viziers. He extended the borders of the empire beyond what any of the Ottoman sultans had achieved, yet it is primarily as a lawgiver th...
Known in the West as a cultural patron and as the ruler who sent exotic gifts to Charlemagne, Harun al-Rashid was also a soldier who waged war against the Byzantine empire, and a politician who often dealt ruthlessly with the religious and social revolts which threatened his far-flung kingdom. A symbol of the fabled Orient and the caliph portrayed inThe Thousand and One Nights, he is shown living grandly in his palace in Baghdad, surrounded by his wives, concubines, musicians and learned men, but is not merely a legendary figure. He was the son of a Yemenite slave who carved a path to power, very probably by poisoning the reigning caliph, her elder son. Harun reigned for a quarter of a century, and was the most famous caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. Through Arab chronicles, the author corrects our vision of `Harun the Good`, and gives a remarkable account of his development as a ruler of an empire that was shaken by religious and social insurrections.
The Suleymanname is an imperial illuminated manuscript, housed in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul. It was commissioned by the Sultan Suleyman I, who reigned from 1520 to 1566, when the Ottoman Empire was at its zenith. This facsimile edition is printed in four colours plus gold, and in tritone.
First published in 1989. Mas'udi was born in Baghdad about 896 AD, during the Caliphate of Mu'tadid and died in Egypt sometime around the year 956, eleven years after the Buwaihids, a Shi'a dynasty of Iranian origin, had occupied Baghdad and taken control of the Caliphate. His full name was Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husain ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah al-Mas'udi and he was notable as a Muslim historian. His two major works were Meadows of Gold (Muruj al-Dhahab) and the Book of Notification (Kitab al-Tanbih).
Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502 – 1550) was renowned throughout Renaissance Europe as a draftsman, painter, and publisher of architectural treatises. The magnificent tapestries he designed were acquired by the wealthiest clients of the day, up to and including rulers such as Emperor Charles V, King Francis I of France, King Henry VIII of England, and Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici of Tuscany. At the same time, Coecke was remarkable not only for the complexity and unparalleled quality of his tapestries, but also for his fluency in various media: this lavishly illustrated volume examines the full range of his work, from tapestry and stained-glass window designs to panel paintings, prints, dr...
"The Red and the Black" is a reflective novel about the rise of poor, intellectually gifted people to High Society. Set in 19th century France it portrays the era after the exile of Napoleon to St. Helena. The influential, sharp epigrams in striking prose, leave reader almost as intrigued by the author s talent as the surprising twists that occur in the arduous love life.
From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, the janissaries were the scourge of Europe. With their martial music, their muskets and their drilled march, it seemed that no one could withstand them. Their loyalty to their corps was infinite as the Ottomans conquered the Balkans as far as the Danube, and Syria, Egypt and Iraq. They set up semi-independent states along the North African coast and even fought at sea. Their political power was such that even sultans trembled. Who were they? Why were they an elite? Why did they decline and what was their end? These are some of the questions which this book attempts to answer. It is the story of extraordinary personalities in both victory and defeat. 'An incredible book ... a tour de force' Middle East International 'Well written and lucid.' Muslim World Books Review 'Goodwin has done so much in his scholarly career to introduce a wide audience to Ottoman culture.' Financial Times
Everyone dies. For thousands of years, uncountable millions of corpses have been given funerals, and the living have always been faced with the problems of valedictory ceremonials for the dead and what to do with the corpses. Most of them have been buried, burnt, preserved, put in the sea, or exposed to the air. Quicklime, acids, eating and shrinking are more rare, and on the whole the overtly scientific methods go with unnatural death, so that earth, air, fire, and water are the most common agents of disposal.--pg. 9.
*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the 4th century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity's greatest empire. Constantinople would continue to serve as the capital of the Byzantine Empire even after the Western half of the Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century. Naturally, the Ottoman Empire would also use Constantinople as the capital of ...
An insight into the lives of Ottoman women from an exceptional scholar.