Sultans In Splendor

This is an English translation of a critical portrait of the Ottoman capital of Istanbul during the days of the Sultan Abd al-Hamid.

The subject of this vast, astonishing and brilliantly readable work of history is the bizarre story of the Ottoman Empire, seen through the lives and actions of its sultans, with their absolute power and terrifying cruelty, their love of pomp and magnificence and their overwhelming venality and corruption. The author describes the men, the events, the daily life, the strange customs of Turkey's court, from her emergence as a great power in the sixteenth century to the death of Kemal Ataturk, who overthrew the Sultanate to establish a new and more modern form of tyranny. This book is a unique and fascinating record of four centuries of glory, debauchery, splendor and cruelty. --from inside jacket flap.

On the basis of diverse ethnographic contexts in Oceania, Asia, and the Middle East, the author's challenge current conceptions of hierarchical formations and reassess former debates, both with regard to new theoretical issues and the new world situation of post-colonial and neocolonial agendas.

Philip Mansel's highly acclaimed history absorbingly charts the interaction between the vibrantly cosmopolitan capital of Constantinople - the city of the world's desire - and its ruling family. In 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror entered Constantinople on a white horse, beginning an Ottoman love affair with the city that lasted until 1924, when the last Caliph hurriedly left on the Orient Express. For almost five centuries Constantinople, with its enormous racial and cultural diversity, was the centre of the dramatic and often depraved story of an extraordinary dynasty.

Celebrates the diversity of life through the exploration of cultures around the world.

"As old as time itself and as fleet as its flying moments," the Arabian horse has remained practically unchanged throughout the more than 3,500 years of the history of the breed.