God's Shadow - The Ottoman Sultan Who Shaped the Modern World

A Times Literary Supplement and History Today Book of the Year

-An astonishing and thrilling story.- Stephen Greenblatt

The Ottoman Empire was a hub of flourishing intellectual fervour, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. At the helm of its ascent was the omnipotent Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).

Alan Mikhail centres Selim-s Ottoman Empire and Islam as the very pivots of global history, redefining such world-changing events as Christopher Columbus-s voyages, the Protestant Reformation, and the transatlantic slave trade. Mikhail-s ground-breaking account vividly recaptures Selim-s life, radically reshaping our understanding of a world we thought we knew.