Christopher de Bellaigue Interviewed by Lucian Hudson

Journalist and historian Christopher de Bellaigue vividly brings to life the world of Suleyman the Magnificent and his rise to become the most powerful and feared man of the 16th century.

De Bellaigue has pioneered a new style of eye-witness history to narrate his story of the Ottoman Sultan and his efforts to conquer the Holy Roman Empire. It is a story about brutal choices, about friendship with a Greek slave, the Venetian plutocrat who sells him gems and gains him allies, and the Russian consort who steals his heart. At its heart it is a story about power and the dangers of living with it and without it.

‘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

De Bellaigue is author of five award-winning books. The Islamic Enlightenment was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. He reported from Turkey, the Middle East and South Asia during the 1990s and 2002 for the Economist, the Financial Times, and the Guardian. Here he talks to Lucian Hudson, chair of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations.