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Peerless among Princes: The Life and Times of Sultan Süleyman

by Kaya Şahin (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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A full life and times biography of Süleyman, the longest reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Süleyman, who ruled the Ottoman Empire between 1520 and 1566, was a globally recognized figure during his lifetime. His domain extended from Hungary to Iran, and from the Crimea to North Africa and the Indian Ocean. The wealth of his treasury, the strength of his armies, and his personality were much discussed by historians, poets, courtiers, diplomats and publics across Eurasia.

Süleyman was engaged in bitter rivalries with the Catholic Habsburgs in Europe and the Shiite Safavids in the Middle East. He presided over a multilingual and multireligious empire that promised peace and prosperity to its subjects. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire became a truly global power. Imperial governance expanded considerably, and the law was emphasized as the main bond between the ruler and the ruled. Süleyman's prolific poetic output, his frequent appearances during public ceremonies, his charity, and his patronage of arts and architecture enhanced his reputation as a universal ruler with a well-rounded character.

Behind the public façade of might and glory, Süleyman led a complicated life. He grew up with an overbearing father whose legacy was both an advantage and a burden. Defying established practice, he married a concubine named Hürrem whose love and affection became a true refuge. Towards the end of his life, he had to overcome both debilitating sickness and the agitations of his sons to remain on the throne.

Nearly half a millennium after his death, the life of Süleyman has been obscured by romanticized and exoticized narratives. Based on original sources in multiple languages, Peerless among Princes narrates Süleyman's achievements as well as his failures. What emerges is a compelling account of a ruler, his family, his close associates, and the Ottoman imperial project itself during the transformational sixteenth century.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0197531636
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0197531631
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 27, 2023
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    9.27 x 1.12 x 6.48 inches
  7. Print length
    384 pages
  8. See all details
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Peerless among Princes

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Süleyman I has long been considered the epitome of Ottoman sultans, but the man behind the official persona remains elusive. Kaya Şahin is already author of standout studies of this reign and in this new work skillfully mines contemporary sources to reveal the joys and tribulations of a life increasingly shaped by the anxieties associated with the impending Islamic millennium. From his difficult youth to sickly old age, Süleyman's life story is here reappraised in a dynamic and intimate narrative that will have wide appeal." -- Caroline Finkel, author of Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire

"One of history's most fascinating leaders, known in Europe as 'the Great Turk,' comes vividly alive in this captivating book. Combining deep research with a light writing style, it tells not just the story of a sultan but of an epoch. Learning about Süleyman's multi-talented wife, who rose from slavery to become arguably the most powerful woman in the world, is an added bonus." -- Stephen Kinzer, author of Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds

"This volume will serve as the standard English account of Süleyman's reign and the model for how to write a biography of a sultan." -- Choice

About the Author

Kaya Şahin is Associate Professor of History and the Executive Associate Dean of the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University. He is the author of Empire and Power in the Reign of Süleyman: Narrating the Sixteenth-Century Ottoman World.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (February 27, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0197531636
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0197531631
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.62 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.27 x 1.12 x 6.48 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

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Kaya Şahin

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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
15 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars The new standard biography
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
First a disclosure. I know the author and read Earl drafts of the book. However Suleyman is the least well known of the early sixteenth century European rulers, and arguably the most successful. This a scholarly and serious study. Rather then reading another biography of one Henry VIII’s wife, explore the other end of the continent
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5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Biography
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2023
This is the first English language biography of Süleyman the Magnificent written by someone who actually knows Ottoman Turkish. Considering that Sultan Süleyman I was one of the most important people of the 16th century, such a book is long overdue, and Kaya Şahin's "Peerless Among Princes" is the definitive biography. It also provides a revealing contrast to "God's Shadow," Alan Mikhail's recent biography of Suleyman's father Selim I. That book was padded, marred by hyperbolic claims, and made bizarrely self-limiting choices in its sources. Şahin's book is concise, displays impeccable scholarship, and draws on many sources inaccessible to non-experts.

Şahin makes greater sense of Suleyman's life and decisions than any other book I've read on Ottoman history. We might never know the full story behind the executions of the Grand Vizier Ibrahim and Prince Mustafa, but Şahin gives us enough background, and draws on every available source, to make us understand why Suleyman acted as he did.

Though later regarded as a golden age, the reign of Süleyman experienced its share of anxiety, and Şahin reads between the lines of the Ottoman chroniclers to show that the continuing expansion of the Ottoman empire brought not just booty but problems. The Ottomans, formidable as they were, discovered that their Habsburg and Safavid neighbors couldn't simply be destroyed. Süleyman started his reign with the brilliant conquests of Rhodes and Belgrade and pretensions to universal rule; he ended it in pain from the unavoidable succession struggles between his sons and the cost of maintaining the empire's stretched borders.

This is not pop history, but rather a scholarly biography written in a clear and accessible style. It doesn't pretend to be a novel or treat its subject like a character from one. It's not entirely a narrative history, and on occasion Şahin will mention someone's death before discussing it in full detail later on in the same chapter. But his book's organization presents a precisely rendered picture of the condition of the Ottoman Empire, Süleyman's personal and public lives, and the changing times that exalted and bedeviled the longest-reigning Ottoman sultan. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone seriously interested in Ottoman history.
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