THE LION HOUSE

An eloquent historical investigation of a legendary ruler.

Suleyman I (the Magnificent), sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 until his death in 1566, enjoyed a long and opulent reign during a time of much turmoil in 16th-century Europe. Known to the Turks as “the law-giver,” he engaged in numerous military campaigns and expanded the borders of the empire considerably, though his ambitions in this regard were secondary to the security of the realm. De Bellaigue, a noted historian, linguist, and journalist with a background in Islamic studies and Middle East reportage, does not render a scholarly biography of Suleyman but rather a series of interwoven character studies that set him against the two greatest ministers in the formative portion of his reign: Ibrahim Pasha, who became the sultan’s intimate friend, grand vizier, and commander of his armies; and Alvise Gritti, son of the Doge of Venice, an opportunistic Christian whose Machiavellian dealings catapulted him to the No. 3 position of power in the empire. The narrative is dominated by personal relationships, shifting alliances, intrigues, ambitions, betrayals, meteoric ascents, and precipitous falls. While the author offers sumptuous detail on the vast wealth and extravagance of the “Golden Age” Ottoman court and its beneficiaries, he devotes comparatively little space to Suleyman’s notable political and judicial reforms—nor to the specifics of the sultan’s patronage of the arts and culture apart from individual artisanship and grandiose display. But these would develop over time and seem almost incidental to de Bellaigue’s successful narrative approach. He is often writing as if in real time, and it is fitting that the sections of the book are called “acts,” for the writing has the quality and immediacy (if not the structure) of a Shakespearean play. The author includes a few hand-drawn maps and a section entitled “Persons of the drama,” both of which help orient readers.

A vivid, you-are-there re-creation of time and place populated with well-delineated characters.