Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire

Description

Lords of the Horizons charts the Ottoman Empire's swirling history; dramatic, detailed and alive - a journey, and a world all in one. 'Perhaps the most readable history ever written' Time Out Lords of the Horizons charts the Ottoman Empire's swirling epic history; dramatic - detailed and alive - a journey, and a world all in one. The Ottoman Empire has long exerted a strong pull on Western minds and hearts. For over six hundred years the Empire swelled and declined; rising from a dusty fiefdom in the foothills of Anatolia to a power which ruled over the Danube and the Euphrates with the richest court in Europe. But its decline was prodigious, protracted, and total. 'A fascinating read...a perfect companion for anyone who visits Turkey and wants to make sense of it' The Times

Jason Godwin is a historian, journalist and travel writer. He has travelled extensively in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and India; his first book, The Gunpowder Gardens- Travels through India and China in search of Tea, was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Awards, 1991, and his second, On Foot to the Golden Horn- A Walk to Istanbul, was the winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, 1993. He is also the author of several crime novels, and in 2007 was awarded the Edgar Award for Best Novel for The Janissary Tree.

A fascinating read... a perfect companion for anyone who visits Turkey and wants to make sense of it and those countries it once ruled' * The Times * As plush as a Turkish carpet... Godwin weaves together the threads of barbarism and civilisation with dazzling panache -- Piers Brendon * Mail on Sunday * So rich, so detailed and so astonishing as to be a book of wonders in itself -- Jan Morris * Independent * Perhaps the most readable history ever written on anything * Time Out *