The Grand Turk : Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas

Whenever I'm asked to recommend a book about Turkey, I reply, 'Anything by John Freely'. This latest work is a marvellous example of Freely's ability to convey the sweep of history by telling us about the outsized characters who shaped it. Mehmet the Conqueror, who captured Constantinople at the age of 21 and went on to reshape the world, has never seemed as alive as he does on these pages. Stephen Kinzer, former 'New York Times' correspondent and author of 'Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds'. 'To do justice to a figure as colourful and complicated as Mehmed the Conqueror, one has to combine the ability of a master story teller with an intimate knowledge of Istanbul (Constantinople), the city Mehmed first conquered and then spent the rest of his life rebuilding and repopulating. The readers of this book are fortunate that John Freely possesses both these traits.' Heath W. Lowry, Professor of Ottoman & Modern Turkish Studies, Princeton University.