Here, he takes the story on to the next phase as the swan-necked sultan sets about protecting his gains, doing-over his previous failures (bits of Hungary need retaking) and, most crucially, worrying about an heir.
He has five, by two different mothers, but there is a terrible kicker built into the system: once an heir has been chosen (it doesn’t need to be the oldest boy), the lucky young man is expected to murder all his brothers.
In his previous book, The Lion House, Christopher de Bellaigue charted Suleyman’s rise to power in rich, sinuous detail.
Since coming to the throne 18 years earlier he has invaded Belgrade, Rhodes, much of Hungary, Baghdad and too many Mediterranean ports to mention.
True, there have been a few hitches – he failed to capture Vienna in 1529 – but still, as he sits on his golden perch in Istanbul, he is pretty much lord of all he surveys.
