The Sultans - 1973

"The subject of this vast, astonishing and brilliantly readable work of history is the bizarre story of the Ottoman Empire, seen through the lives and actions of its sultans, with their absolute power and terrifying cruelty, their love of pomp and magnificence and their overwhelming venality and corruption. Rarely has a great empire been ruled by such grotesque and awesome figures: Suleiman the Magnificent, who allowed his wife to persuade him to murder his eldest son and his best friend; Selim the Sot, who fathered a long line of degenerate rulers; Murad III, who left 103 children behind him when he died; Mustafa, who was kept in a cage, attended by deaf-mutes, until he ascended to the throne; sultans who practiced their archery on living people; sultans who had their younger sons strangled with silken cords in order to protect the succession... In this richly detailed and almost incredible work of history, Noel Barber describes the men, the events, the daily life, the strange customs of Turkey's court, from her emergence as a great power in the sixteenth century to the death of Kemal Ataturk, who overthrew the Sultanate to establish a new and more modern form of tyranny. His book is a unique and fascinating record of four centuries of glory, debauchery, splendor and cruelty." - The Sultans - Noel Barber Published 1973, Simon & Schuster, New York Hardcover. Approx. 6.5x9in. 304pp. Dustjacket has some wear along edges. Book itself is in good vintage condition.