The Lion House

An immersive reconstruction of the life of the most feared and powerful man of the sixteenth century – from the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlisted author of The Islamic Enlightenment.

Venice, 1522. Intelligence arrives from the east confirming Europe’s greatest fear: the vastly rich Ottoman Sultan has all he needs to wage total war – and his sights are set on Rome. With Christendom divided, Suleyman the Magnificent has his hand on its throat.

From the palaces of Istanbul to the blood-soaked fields of central Europe and the scorched coasts of north Africa, The Lion House pioneers a bold new style of eye-witness history to tell a true story of power at its most glittering, personal, and perilous: Suleyman’s rise to become the most feared and powerful man of the sixteenth century.

The Lion House is not just the story of two civilisations in an existential duel and of one of the most consequential lives in world history. It is a tale of the timeless pull of power, dangerous to live with, deadly to live without.