The Golden Throne

Enormously entertaining … illuminating … vivid … action-packed – Pratinav Anil * The Times Book of the Week *A meticulously sourced work of narrative history … thrilling … Like Mantel, De Bellaigue delivers his story in a mashup of contemporary colloquialism and gorgeous descriptions … Sticking closely to the written records, he deploys the skills of the novelist to bring the archive thrillingly to life – Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Wolf Hall with sultans and eunuchs … vividly evokes the Ottoman emperor’s reign in all its gory glory * The Times *Epic Mediterranean naval conflicts … dangerous realpolitik that creates then murderously shatters alliances … At the centre of this web of global political intrigue sits the inscrutable Suleiman … [and] the sultan’s attempt to balance his geopolitical scheming with his complex family life akin to a Turkish version of Succession * Financial Times *Sparkling … saturated with vivid colour and detail … puts the reader directly onto battlefields, inside council chambers and often at the heart of Suleyman’s thought processes … the dramatic details have an uncanny power of sticking in one’s mind – Andrew Lycett * Spectator *Fascinating … glittering … de Bellaigue swoops through the three-dimensional chess game that was European geopolitics in the mid-16th century with airy confidence – Katie Hickman * Literary Review *Galloping, novelistic … This is not a book simply about dynastic succession … The Ottomans were the menacing other that occupied the thoughts of every monarch across the continent. The winner in this game of thrones mattered to them too – Michael Prodger * New Statesman *Narrative non-fiction with all the verve of an immersive novel … propulsive … pacy … the worrisome question of who should inherit his throne … unleash[es] murderous mayhem in the royal family * Daily Mail *Absolutely spectacular. A book that brings the worlds of the Ottomans – and a lot more besides – to life. A triumph – Peter FrankopanDe Bellaigue is at the top of his game. He has made the most captivating Ottoman sultan his own. A thunderously good read – Justin MarozziImagine the Shakespeare history plays mixed up with Suetonius and throw in the reports of sharp-eyed Muslim chroniclers and wily European ambassadors, and you will get a sense of what Christopher de Bellaigue’s The Golden Throne is like. Wonderful and highly enjoyable – Margaret MacMillanChristopher de Bellaigue’s second volume of his trilogy on Suleiman the Magnificent is as gripping as the first, which is saying something. The nature of the Ottoman autocracy was so grim and the character of Suleiman so terrifying that our author doesn’t have to make anything up to produce a terrific story. He just makes the most of it * Evening Standard *Reading The Golden Throne has been a joy … Written in the present tense, with novelistic flair, we get a ringside seat of diplomatic manoeuverings, sea battles against the Holy League and peek inside his harem. There are stranglings and political marriages galore … I’m in awe of de Bellaigue’s imagination and skill in distilling a huge amount of research into a witty, fleet-footed narrative – Robbie Millen * The Times *A wonderful book – entrancing, addictive, full of effortless erudition – Rory StewartWhat a delight! Mesmerizing in their compelling drama of the power, the opulence and the fear at the court of the Ottomans, superb in their history, vivid in their novelistic portrait of personalities, unique in their sweep from the Doge’s palace to the Sublime Porte, Christopher de Bellaigue’s two volumes, The Lion House and The Golden Throne, are impossible to put down and bring to life the rise and reign of Suleiman the Magnificent like nothing else – Simon Sebag MontefioreThe pace, the language and the story-telling are simply magnificent – Victoria HislopChristopher de Bellaigue creates thrilling entertainment out of meticulously researched history – Robert PestonWolf Hall with sultans and eunuchs … In The Golden Throne, Christopher de Bellaigue vividly evokes the Ottoman emperor’s reign in all its gory glory … Gripping … An enormously entertaining account of Suleyman the Magnificent’s middle years * The Times *Wolf Hall for the Ottoman Empire … History at its most gripping * Telegraph on The Lion House *The most daring history book of the year. Unforgettable – Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times on The Lion House *

Christopher de Bellaigue is the award-winning author of The Lion House- The Rise of Suleyman the Magnificent, which was chosen as a book of the year by The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator and New Yorker among others, as well as five previous books, including The Islamic Enlightenment, which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2017. As a reporter he has covered war, politics, society and the environment in five continents for the Economist, the New York Review of Books, the Guardian and the BBC. He is the founder of the Lake District Book Festival in Cartmel, Cumbria, an Honorary Fellow of the University of St Andrews and in 2026 he will take up a Visiting Fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford.