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. The author 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. This book is a unique and fascinating record of four centuries of glory, debauchery, splendor and cruelty. --from inside jacket flap.
Noel Barber was a British novelist and journalist. Many of his novels, considered exotic romances, as well as his works of 20th century history, are based on his first-hand experiences as leading foreign correspondent for the Daily Mail.
Most notably he reported from Morocco, where he was stabbed five times. In October 1956, Barber survived a gun shot wound to the head by a Soviet sentry in Hungary during the Hungarian revolution.
