The Golden Throne

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

A ground-breaking, present-tense reconstruction of the life and world of one of the most consequential figures in world history, Suleyman the Magnificent, from the author of The Lion House

Chosen by The Times, Guardian and Financial Times as a 'Book to Look Out For' in 2025

Istanbul, 1538. The greatest of the Ottoman Sultans is at the pinnacle of world power, while his family and future are at the mercy of their own dynastic law: whichever of his five sons succeeds him must eventually kill all the others. So why not get a head start?

For the next fifteen years, as Suleyman the Magnificent and his terrifying pirate captain Barbarossa face down imperial enemies across two hemispheres, the self-fulfilling curse of the Ottomans gathers its own unstoppable momentum.

From the burning pyres of Paris to the rain-lashed mountains of Transylvania, from Buda to Basra, from Crimea to the coast of India, The Golden Throne is an intensely gripping yet entirely historical reconstruction of the life and world of the most feared and powerful man of the sixteenth century, revealing the price of succession and the terrible cost of success.

'Wolf Hall for the Ottoman Empire . . . History at its most gripping' Daily Telegraph on The Lion House

‘A wonderful book – entrancing, addictive, full of effortless erudition’ Rory Stewart

‘The pace, the language and the story-telling are simply magnificent’ Victoria Hislop

‘Thrilling entertainment created out of meticulously researched history’ Robert Peston

‘Mesmerizing in their drama, superb in their history, unique in their sweep, Christopher de Bellaigue’s two volumes are impossible to put down' Simon Sebag Montefiore

© Christopher de Bellaigue 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

Enormously entertaining . . . illuminating . . . vivid . . . action-packed
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
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
Spectator
Fascinating . . . glittering . . . de Bellaigue swoops through the three-dimensional chess game that was European geopolitics in the mid-16th century with airy confidence
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
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 Frankopan
De Bellaigue is at the top of his game. He has made the most captivating Ottoman sultan his own. A thunderously good read
Justin Marozzi

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