Description
The bizarre story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to turn out to be the one queen of the Ottoman empire
In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was once abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian native land and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman turned into besotted together with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon turned into a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world during which women, from Isabella of Hungary to Catherine de Medici, increasingly more held the reins of power.