Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Inside the Seraglio by John Freely ISBN: 0-14-027056-6 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 03 July, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A beautiful, colorful look into the lives of Ottoman Sultans
Comment: John Freely's Inside the Seraglio is an enjoyable, engaging book. This look into the lives of the sultans during the Ottoman's period of decline is insightful and thought provoking. I especially like the dialogue that is exchanged during the scenes in which the sultans spend time in The House of Felicity. The mixture of erotica and historical fiction is a literary delight in this book. I recommend Inside the Seraglio to those who love the combination of the aforementioned genres.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great Stories of the Ottoman Imperial Court
Comment: This fascinating book summarizes the court life of the Ottoman sultans in Istanbul. It begins with a few short passages on the founding of the dynasty in the 13th Century, but the most intriguing stories begin after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the Ottoman takeover of the city.
John Freely writes in a clear and concise manner that makes what could be complex material simpler to read. And the characters, from the royal courtiers to the concubines to the sultans themselves are all portrayed with fascinating insight. The text is illustrated throughout by some beautiful prints and sketches as well.
This is a great book about the inner workings of the court life of the Ottoman dynasty, and will likely whet the reader's appetite to do delve more deeply into the subject.
Rating: 5
Summary: Private lives of the Sultans of Istanbul
Comment: As indicated in the subtitle, "Inside the Seraglio" is about the 'private' lives of the Osmanli Sultans during the decline of the Ottoman Empire. For instance, the Crimean War gets one sentence:
"The end of the Crimean War was celebrated at a banquet in Dolmabahçe Sarayi on 13 July, 1856, an occasion that also marked the dedication of the new palace."
Private means private, although there isn't much sex in the book. But it does dispel a few European myths about the Sultan's love life--for instance, the myth that he tossed a handkerchief to the woman with whom he wished to spend the night. Only Sultan Ibrahim the Mad (1640-8) seems to have lived down to our expectations. According to Demetrius Cantemir (his biographer):
"'As Murad [Mad Murad, the previous sultan] was wholly addicted to wine, so was Ibrahim to lust...He cover'd the walls of his chamber with looking glass, that his love-battles might seem to be acted in several places at once...he put whole sable skins under him, in a notion that his lust would be inflam'd, if his love-toil were render'd more difficult by the glowing of his knees...'"
Mostly, the author writes about the politics of the seraglio: the power of the Sultan's mother, the 'valide sultan'; the imprisonment and frequent murder of his brothers; the hierarchy of concubines, wives, favorites, and eunuchs. It's quite a fascinating and beautiful, self-absorbed world, although I wouldn't have wanted to have been one of the Sultan's brothers. It's no wonder three Sultans in a row went mad while they were imprisoned by the previous ruler (before Mad Murad came Sultan Mustafa, whose "mental condition had not been generally known he became sultan, but then it became obvious to all who came into contact with him that he was insane and incapable of ruling on his own..."
Many of the Osmanli Sultans were deposed and reincarcerated by their relatives, and the rumor about their concubines ending up in a sack in the Bosphorus seems to be verified by the author.
All in all during Osmanli rule, it was a bad time to be a Sultan's brother, or a deposed Sultan's concubine.
If you'd like to read about the public lives of the sultans, try "The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire," by Alan Palmer. Another fascinating book about the Seraglio of Topkapi Palace in Instanbul is, "Harem: The World Behind the Veil," by Alev Lytle Croutier, whose grandmother actually lived in one.
 |
Title: Harem: The World Behind the Veil by Alev Lytle Croutier ISBN: 1558591591 Publisher: Abbeville Press Pub. Date: July, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Seraglio by Janet Wallach ISBN: 0385490461 Publisher: Nan A. Talese Pub. Date: 21 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire (Studies in Middle Eastern History) by Leslie P. Peirce ISBN: 0195086775 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1993 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
 |
Title: Harem: A Novel by Dora Levy Mossanen ISBN: 0743230213 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Palace of Tears by Alev Lytle Croutier ISBN: 0385334915 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 02 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
