Inside the Seraglio : private lives of the Sultans in Istanbul / John Freely

London : Viking, 1999. First Edition. Hardback. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-nicked and dust-dulled dw, now mylar-sleeved. Previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong.; 8vo 8"" - 9"" tall; 360 pages; xxi, 360p, [8]p. of plates : ill..(some col.), maps,ports..(some col.) ; 25cm. This is the story of the House of Osman, the Imperial dynasty that ruled the Ottoman Empire for more than seven centuries. During the first four centuries of Ottoman rule, the Sultans lived in the great palace of Topkapi Sarayi, whose gardens and pavilions still grace the Acropolis Hill above the confluence of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. This was the setting of the pleasure dome in which the Sultans took their ease when they were not off on campaign, closed off from the outside world in the inner palace of Topkapi Sarayi, the Imperial residence known as Dar-Us Saadet, ""the house of felicity"". Full of detail and anecdotes, this book brings to life the fading memory of those who lived out their lives in fabled palaces, evoing evoking colourful times in which they lived. Subjects: Sultans - Turkey - Istanbul - Biography. Sultans - Turkey - Biography. Turkey - History - Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918.