The Harem

Dust wrapper rubbed and a little ragged at edges. Red cloth with bright gilt lettering to spine, slight fading. End paper some marks. 260 pages clean and tight. In western minds the word harem has always tended to arouse visions of an Arabian Nights world of luxury, violence and dissipation. In view of the mystery and secrecy which has for centuries veiled the subject it is hardly surprising that fact has generally been outweighed by fantasy. The merit of Mr. Penzer's' book, which was originally published a bare quarter of a century after the Turkish harm came to an ignominious end, is that without minimising the sensational and unpleasant aspects of the system he presents an authoritative, objective account of its history over a period of 450 years. The term Izarem properly refers to the . women's quarters which formed only one part of the vast social, political and administrative unit represented by the Grand Seraglio or Imperial Palace. Mr. Penzer takes readers on a conducted tour of those portions of the palace which were open for his inspection; with the aid of photographs, engravings and a ground plan, he skilfully reconstructs the huge network of courts, living quarters, reception rooms, kitchens, storehouses, baths, mosques, and dungeons which made up this miniature empire. Daily life in this artificial community, so completely cut off from the realities of the outside world, was for the most part monotonous and uneventful, but occasionally it erupted into drama, violence and horror. Some of the incredible stories of the Seraglio have been attested as fact, and the author includes vivid descriptions of some of its worst excesses-the decades of solitary confinement endured by the brothers of Muhammed III, the orgies and crimes of the half-crazed Ibrahim, the mutilation of the eunuchs, and the frequent murders of the harem women, three hundred of them being drowned in the Bosphorus on one occasion. Elsewhere the author provides a colourful picture of the elaborate hierarchy of the Seraglio personnel-the all-powerful mother of the Sultan, the strangely-clad Janissaries, the black eunuchs, the white eunuchs, and the harem women, only a few of whom ever achieved wealth or high rank; and he provides cogent reasons for the collapse of the system, coincidental with the gradual decline of Turkish power, a relic of feudalism which lasted until modern times. Size: 7" By 10" Tall.…