Revolutionised thinking about the Battle of Britain in a way that has not been seriously challenged since.

Must surely rank as the most honest attempt yet to tell how the Battle of Britain really was.

The research was so meticulous that his conclusions, chiefly that the Few were very brave but their leaders were daft, could not easily be set aside. Indeed, they are now part of the orthodoxy.

The best, most dispassionate story of the battle I have read and I say that even though the book destroyed many of my illusions and, indeed, attacks the validity of some of what I wrote as an eyewitness.

[We learn] that British anti-aircraft fire was ineffective, that some R.A.F. ground personnel fled under fire, that the Admiralty provoked costly skirmishes ...The book resounds with exploded myths.

Deighton has shown himself to be the most protean of British best-sellers.

Tobias Kelly's book takes five pacifists, four men and one woman, and skilfully weaves their stories into a broader narrative . . . A long and proud tradition of being permitted to act according to conscience is very much part of Britain's self-image . . . that there was space for pacifists to lay claim to the values of sacrifice and citizenship while not taking up weapons, ultimately played a not insignificant role in Britain's record of tolerance

This is a sympathetic and nuanced study that challenges the overly simplistic wartime narrative that pervades British culture

Those lucky readers who come to Christopher de Bellaigue's book in proximity to reading Mantel can suddenly have a new panel thrown open to them like an unfolding altarpiece ... all written in the present tense. This creates the obvious sense of liveliness and urgency ... Bellaigue sets about the task with such confidence and skill that it works ... a dazzling and dark work. Witty and often wise, it speaks to the frailties and the precarity of power

Vivid and compelling ... He presents his story like a novel, but it is not fiction; every detail has been diligently researched, for example by perusing diaries in difficult Venetian dialect ... Whether he is describing a lavish dinner for Italian merchants on the Bosporus, the stately progress of Suleiman's armies through the Balkans or a mass circumcision, he has an eye for the colourful, absurd and ironic ... As this book shows, living in the penumbra of such supreme power can be seductive and intoxicating. But the end of the story is often tragic

Wolf Hall for the Ottoman Empire ... History at its most gripping

This account really grips... it does so by bringing out the fascinating individuals, the adventure, the lurid details, the barbarities, the opulence and squalor and near misses of the story

Poised effortlessly between two worlds and two ages, a book as pungent and mysterious as the age it depicts

A complex piece of history told with extraordinary clarity

Christopher de Bellaigue has a magic talent for writing history It is as if we are there as the era of Suleyman the Magnificent unfolds

Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand political ambition and the role of narcissistic leaders and scheming courtiers in any age

Gripping, novelistic ... brisk and muscular ... written in a sure-footed historical present, the book creates a simulacrum of the 16th century through the painstaking accumulation of attested details ... [giving] the book its vividness and energy ... [De Bellaigue] writes with supreme confidence about power, diplomacy, clothing, avarice, war, statecraft and the exceptional brutality of the era ... While The Lion House unfolds like a novel, through scenes rich with authenticating detail

De Bellaigue is a riveting and expert guide to the story of Suleyman's quest for power

Narrated with a verve and flair that make the characters burst from the pages. Outstanding history and an incredibly good read

Exquisite ... So arresting is this book, so enveloping in the tensions of its narrative, that most readers will feel a pang of sorrow that the tale does not run on. The Lion House leaves us with a tease, or taunt: "Who, apart from God, can say what will come next?" A sequel, surely. Although it was the peak of the Ottoman Empire, Suleyman's reign also offers clear glimpses of a great decline to come. Who better to tell us about it than Mr de Bellaigue?

Non-fiction with the readability of a thriller. Unputdownable

Sensuous and scholarly, meticulously researched and deliciously irreverent, The Lion House is an intoxicating journey through the Ottomans' golden age

Reads like the most gripping fiction ... could very well be Netflix's next epic

The Lion House presents a historical universe that captivates and astonishes and is near-impossible to put down. A superb example of historical literature and research

Full of breath-taking events at the cross-roads of empires at a moment in history when notions such as Europe, Asia, Christianity and Islam were infinitely more fluid and permeable than they are today

Original... de Bellaigue... offers a vivid presentation of events, re-imagined as scenes and episodes... a different, literary kind [of history]

De Bellaigue writes with impecable scholarship, piecing together contemporary accounts to create a thrilling narrative

De Bellaigue is an expert stylist, sensitive to rhythm and vocabulary, and passionate in his pursuit of the fugitive detail that gives meaning to a whole episode

An exhilarating read

An engrossing book... This is history turned into drama and poetry, awesomely spectacular yet also intensely intimate

The world of Suleyman the Magnificent...is brought to life in this history