Truly magnificent: the splendour of Suleiman I
Suleiman I richly deserved his epithet, as this vivid account of his early years illustrates, says Jason Burke
The best of journeys: Justin Marozzi’s monumental trek through the history of the Muslim world
This impressively clever, careful, and often beautiful book is the best sort of journey. It takes us through 15 cities…
A new version of Saladin — as silver-tongued diplomat
I can only remember one page of any of the dozens of Ladybird histories that I read avidly as a…
The scramble for the Middle East: Britain and America fall out
One of the many pleasures offered by Lords of the Desert, which narrates the rivalry between Britain and the United…
Do the Americans know who they’re fighting in Afghanistan — or why?
Early every morning through the spring of 2002, US troops at Bagram airfield on the Shomali plains north of Kabul…
