The Grand Turk

When Ertugrul Bey settled in Sogut at the end of the thirteenth century after the defeat of the Seljuqs by the Mongols, he probably could not imagine that his 8th generation in line would change the world forever. Mehmet II known as al-Fatiti,the Conqueror, expanded the Ottoman Empire into Europe as far as Hungary and Italy. After the conquest of Constantinople, fear spread over Europe, as John Freely states ‘the Canon of Strasbourg had gone to take a last look at Rome before the eternal city was taken by the Turks.’ (p.170) The book under review, which is a new biography of Mehmet II, illustrates not only his military exploits and skills but also his personal life.

Freely looks into the conqueror’s life in detail and tries to discover what kind of man he was and more importantly what made him one of the most successful rulers of the 15th century. The book is based on Western sources and quotes Western notables’ accounts about him and his personality but Evliya Celebi’s Seyatiatnamah has also been quoted in several places to give the book some balance as far as references are concerned.