| The Janissary Tree Contributor(s): Goodwin, Jason (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0312426135 ISBN-13: 9780312426132 Publisher: Picador USA OUR PRICE: $21.60 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2007 Annotation: Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel It is 1836. Europe is modernizing and the Ottoman Empire must follow suit. But just before the sultan announces sweeping changes, a wave of murders threatens the fragile balance of power in his court. Who is behind them? Only one intelligence agent can be trusted to find out: Yashim, a man both brilliant and near-invisible in this world, an investigator who can walk with ease in the great halls of the empire, in its streets, and even within its harems--because, of course, Yashim is a eunuch. His investigation points to the Janissaries, who, for four hundred years were the empire's elite soldiers. Crushed by the sultan, could they now be staging a brutal comeback? And can they be stopped without throwing Istanbul into political chaos? This first book in the Investigator Yashim series is a richly entertaining tale, full of exotic history and intrigue. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Mystery & Detective - Historical - Fiction | Thrillers - Historical |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Lexile Measure: 1644 |
| Series: Investigator Yashim |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.4" W x 8.3" (0.90 lbs) 336 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1800-1850 - Cultural Region - Turkey |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL This first book in the Investigator Yashim series is a richly entertaining tale, full of exotic history and intrigue, introduces Investigator Yashim: In 1830s Istanbul, an extra-ordinary hero tackles an extraordinary plot that threatens to topple the Ottoman Empire It is 1836. Europe is modernizing, and the Ottoman Empire must follow suit. But just before the Sultan announces sweeping changes, a wave of murders threatens the fragile balance of power in his court. Who is behind them? Only one intelligence agent can be trusted to find out: Yashim Lastname, a man both brilliant and near-invisible in this world. You see, Yashim is a eunuch. He leads us into the palace's luxurious seraglios and Istanbul's teeming streets, and leans on the wisdom of a dyspeptic Polish ambassador, a transsexual dancer, and a Creole-born queen mother. And he introduces us to the Janissaries. For 400 years, they were the empire's elite soldiers, but they grew too powerful, and ten years ago, the Sultan had them crushed. Are the Janissaries staging a brutal comeback? |
Contributor Bio(s): Goodwin, Jason: - JASON GOODWIN is the Edgar Award-winning author of the Investigator Yashim series. The first five books--The Janissary Tree, The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, An Evil Eye, and The Baklava Club--have been published to international acclaim, alongside Yashim Cooks Istanbul, a cookbook of Ottoman Turkish recipes inspired by the series. Goodwin studied Byzantine history at Cambridge and is the author of Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, among other award-winning nonfiction. He lives with his wife and children in England. |