History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Women Who Built The Ottoman World: Female Patronage and the Architectural Legacy of Gulnus Sultan Author: Muzaffer Ozgules Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: I. B. Taurus Release Date: 2017 Pages: 441 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Ottoman Empire remained the grandest and most powerful of Middle Eastern empires. One hitherto overlooked aspect of the Empire's remarkable cultural legacy was the role of powerful women - often the head of the harem, or wives or mothers of sultans. These educated and discerning patrons left a great array of buildings across the Ottoman lands: opulent, lavish and powerful palaces and mausoleums, but also essential works for ordinary citizens, such as bridges and waterworks. Muzaffer Ozgules here uses new primary scholarship and archaeological evidence to reveal the stories of these Imperial builders. Gulnus Sultan for example, the favourite of the imperial harem under Mehmed IV and ...

Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire Author: Leslie Peirce Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Basic Books Release Date: September 19, 2017 Pages: 354 Source: This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The extraordinary story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to become the only queen of the Ottoman empire.      In Empress of the East , historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian homeland and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman became besotted with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women, from Isabe...