Christopher de Bellaigue (13:30)

'Every bit as gripping as Wolf Hall' The Times

Venice, 1522. Intelligence arrives from the east confirming Europe's greatest fear: the vastly rich Ottoman Sultan, Suleyman the Magnificent, has all he needs to wage total war - and his sights are set on Rome. With Christendom divided and the armed might of Islam behind him, he is in pole position to become the most feared and powerful man of the sixteenth century.

Within a decade, Suleyman has mastery over millions of souls, from Baghdad to the walls of Vienna, aided by his pirate admiral Barbarossa who dominates the Mediterranean.

It is a journey built on brutal choices and intimate relationships - from the Greek slave who becomes his closest friend to the Russian consort who steals his heart. The Lion House shows Christopher de Bellaigue, the award-winning author of The Islamic Enlightenment, to have a magic talent for conjuring the world of the Ottoman Empire.

In conversation with Richard Whatmore

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