Empress of the East

Abducted by slave traders from her home in Ruthenia - modern-day Ukraine - around 1515, Roxelana was brought to Istanbul and trained in the palace harem as a concubine for Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire and one of the world's most powerful men. Suleyman became besotted with Roxelana and foreswore all other concubines, freeing and marrying her. The bold and canny Roxelana became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, helping Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women - Isabella of Hungary, Catherine de Medici - were increasingly close to power. Until now Roxelana has been seen by historians as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, acclaimed historian Leslie Peirce reveals with panache the compelling story of an elusive woman who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

Leslie Peirce was until recently Silver Professor of History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at NYU. She has also taught at Cornell and UC Berkeley. She earned her BA and MA from Harvard and received a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. Peirce's work has won her two Fulbrights, two NEH fellowships, a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, and other academic distinctions.