Christopher de Bellaigue was born in London in 1971, and was educated at Cambridge University, where he read Iranian and Indian Studies. Between 1995 and 2007, he lived and worked as a journalist in south Asia and the Middle East, writing for The Economist, Guardian and the New York Review of Books. He is the award-winning author of four books and has made several BBC television and radio programmes. He lives in London.
History at its most gripping ... This vivid study of
Suleyman the Magnificent is as enthralling as fiction * The Sunday
Times *
History at its most gripping * Daily Telegraph *
An urgent, immersive, present-tense gallop ... the book reads as
a non-fiction novel ... cinematically vivid tableaux ... Each
spangled scene ... rests on a solid foundation in the primary
sources ... De Bellaigue enriches his storytelling with the
colourful, meticulous dispatches of its traders, envoys and spies
... behind the bejewelled descriptive prose a thumping pulse of
action tugs us through ... de Bellaigue's glittering, deft and
often witty prose adds pleasure to each page * Financial Times
*
Luminous, erudite ... a gripping account that evokes an epic
poem, saga or 'book of kings' ... It is as immersive as the blurb
claims, conjuring the world of the eastern Mediterranean,
Anatolia and south-eastern Europe in the early 16th century with
the limpid clarity of the many gems that stud its pages ... Even
more than the detail, it is the characters that intrigue and often
inspire ... The book leaves the reader with Suleiman truly
magnificent * Spectator *
Those lucky readers who come to Christopher de Bellaigue's book
in proximity to reading Mantel can suddenly have a new panel thrown
open to them like an unfolding altarpiece ... all written in
the present tense. This creates the obvious sense of liveliness and
urgency ... Bellaigue sets about the task with such confidence and
skill that it works ... a dazzling and dark work. Witty and
often wise, it speaks to the frailties and the precarity of
power -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *
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