The Lion House
The Coming of a King
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Narrated by:
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Barnaby Edwards
About this listen
"Christopher de Bellaigue has a magic talent for writing history. It is as if we are there as the era of Suleyman the Magnificent unfolds."—Orhan Pamuk, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
Narrated through the eyes of the intimates of Suleyman the Magnificent, the sixteenth-century sultan of the Ottoman Empire, The Lion House animates with stunning immediacy the fears and stratagems of those brought into orbit around him: the Greek slave who becomes his Grand Vizier, the Venetian jewel dealer who acts as his go-between, the Russian consort who becomes his most beloved wife.
Within a decade and a half, Suleyman held dominion over twenty-five million souls, from Baghdad to the walls of Vienna, and with the help of his brilliant pirate commander Barbarossa placed more Christians than ever before or since under Muslim rule. And yet the real drama takes place in close-up: in small rooms and whispered conversations, behind the curtain of power, where the sultan sleeps head to toe with his best friend and eats from wooden spoons with his baby boy.
In The Lion House, Christopher de Bellaigue tells not just the story of rival superpowers in an existential duel, nor of one of the most consequential lives in human history, but of what it means to live in a time when a few men get to decide the fate of the world.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
©2022 Christopher de Bellaigue (P)2022 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Harald Sigurdsson burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle from which he escaped with little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. But from these humble origins, he became one of Norway’s most legendary kings. The Last Viking is a fast-moving narrative account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, as he journeyed across the medieval world, from the frozen wastelands of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions of the Holy Land, until his warrior death on the battlefield in England.
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Just okay
- By Amazon Customer on 06-28-24
By: Don Hollway
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Isabella of Castile
- Europe's First Great Queen
- By: Giles Tremlett
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1474, a 23-year-old woman ascended the throne of Castile, the largest and strongest kingdom in Spain. Ahead of her lay the considerable challenge not only of being a young female ruler in an overwhelmingly male-dominated world but also of reforming a major European kingdom that was riddled with crime, corruption, and violent political factionism. Her pivotal reign was long and transformative, uniting Spain and setting the stage for its golden era of global dominance.
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Enlightening
- By Jean on 03-07-17
By: Giles Tremlett
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Defenders of the Faith
- Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520-1536
- By: James Reston Jr.
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In the best-selling Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston Jr. limned two epochal conflicts between Islam and Christendom. Here he examines the ultimate battle in that centuries-long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This drama was propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Though they represented two colliding worlds, they were remarkably similar.
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Good account of interesting period of history
- By ItalCali on 03-11-22
By: James Reston Jr.
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Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
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Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
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The Iron King
- The Accursed Kings, Book 1
- By: Maurice Druon
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From the publishers that brought you A Game of Thrones comes the series that inspired George R.R. Martin’s epic work. France became a great nation under Philip the Fair - but it was a greatness achieved at the expense of her people, for his was a reign characterised by violence, the scandalous adulteries of his daughters-in-law, and the triumph of royal authority.
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Historical Goodie
- By Syd Young on 08-03-13
By: Maurice Druon
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The War Queens
- Extraordinary Women Who Ruled the Battlefield
- By: Jonathan W. Jordan, Emily Anne Jordan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Father-daughter duo Jonathan and Emily Jordan uncover the ingenious wartime tactics of some of history’s most powerful female leaders across millennia and continents, from the stifling battlefields of ancient Egypt to the frigid waters off the Falkland Islands.
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Interesting boook.
- By TMK on 11-13-22
By: Jonathan W. Jordan, and others
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Alexander the Great
- His Life and His Mysterious Death
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In Alexander the Great, Anthony Everitt judges Alexander’s life against the criteria of his own age and considers all his contradictions. We meet the Macedonian prince who was naturally inquisitive and fascinated by science and exploration, as well as the man who enjoyed the arts and used Homer’s great epic, the Iliad, as a bible. As his empire grew, Alexander exhibited respect for the traditions of his new subjects and careful judgment in administering rule over his vast territory. But his career also had a dark side.
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Alexander never gets...old.
- By Douglas Knops on 09-04-19
By: Anthony Everitt
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Taj Mahal
- Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire
- By: Diana Preston, Michael Preston
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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While Galileo was suffering under house arrest at the hands of Pope Urban VIII, the 30 Years War was ruining Europe, and the Pilgrims were struggling to survive in the New World, work began on what would become one of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Taj Mahal. Built by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, its flawless symmetry and gleaming presence have for centuries dazzled all who have seen it.
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A broad perspective
- By Neil on 11-01-09
By: Diana Preston, and others
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Daughters of the Sun
- Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire
- By: Ira Mukhoty
- Narrated by: Shernaz Patel
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1526, when the nomadic Timurid warrior-scholar Babur rode into Hindustan, his wives, sisters, daughters, aunts and distant female relatives travelled with him. These women would help establish a dynasty and empire that would rule India for the next 200 years and become a byword for opulence and grandeur. In Daughters of the Sun, we meet remarkable characters like Khanzada Begum who, at 65, rode on horseback through 750 kilometres of icy passes and unforgiving terrain to parley on behalf of her nephew, Humayun....
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Repetitive Content
- By Sharmistha on 07-18-22
By: Ira Mukhoty
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The Tigress of Forli
- Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de' Medici
- By: Elizabeth Lev
- Narrated by: Edita Brychta
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In this glittering biography, Elizabeth Lev reexamines Caterina Sforza's extraordinary life and accomplishments. Raised in the court of Milan and wed at age ten to the pope’s corrupt nephew, Caterina was ensnared in Italy’s political intrigues early in life. After turbulent years in Rome’s papal court, she moved to the Romagnol province of Forlì. Following her husband’s assassination, she ruled Italy’s crossroads with iron will, martial strength, political savvy—and an icon’s fashion sense. In finally losing her lands to the Borgia family, she put up a resistance that inspired all of Europe.
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Excellent history of a fearless woman
- By Linda M on 11-18-24
By: Elizabeth Lev
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The Borgias and Their Enemies
- 1431-1519
- By: Christopher Hibbert
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The name Borgia is synonymous with the corruption, nepotism, and greed that were rife in Renaissance Italy. The powerful, voracious Rodrigo Borgia, better known to history as Pope Alexander VI, was the central figure of the dynasty. Two of his seven papal offspring also rose to power and fame. The Borgias were notorious for seizing power, wealth, land, and titles through bribery, marriage, and murder. The story of the family's dramatic rise from its Spanish roots to the highest position in Italian society is an absorbing tale.
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Covers the bases, but falls a little flat.
- By Chap Walker on 06-16-13
What listeners say about The Lion House
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- isabel B.
- 11-26-22
all about warfare and conquest
struggle to finish some well written passages but not a strong plot.a fair way to get to know the middle eastern culture
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- Andrea newton
- 12-23-22
Hmm
I wanted to enjoy this book but the narration never allowed me to fully engage. The story was not unfamiliar to me but it felt disjointed.
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- Jessica g
- 10-04-24
good but left Alot of meat on the 🦴
good storyline it jumps around to different characters stories which I don't mind but, just didn't give me the ending I wanted and not as much details towards the ends of characters.. Good but not great
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- John
- 12-29-22
Too much detail?
Very well researched and extraordinary detail. I would have preferred to hear more about the interaction of Suleiman and his children than was presented in this book. The reader was great.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-23-23
Amazing Magical Storytelling
Welcome to History as Storytelling &if you've never heard of it before or heard it before or experienced exactly how history can be framed as a kind of Wizard of Oz movie in your imagination; then you are in for a treat.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Charles
- 12-21-22
Palace, intrigue
Most of this is about the people who rule the empire in the name of the sultan. There is one interesting campaign to take Venice that was sidelined because of poor mapsand the heavy artillery ending up in a swamp. Without this mishap, Venice, history could have changed radically.
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1 person found this helpful
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- jerry zepatos
- 12-17-22
very boring it reads like a text book
save your money its like a text book, just fact and history no plot no story line
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1 person found this helpful