Full of interesting material, but suffering from covering too much ground in one book. "Inside the Seraglio" didn't quite live up to its promise.

The subject matter is very interesting, but first Freely spends the first couple of chapters precisely locating every last room and courtyard in the Osmanli's palace. After that, a cavalcade of generations, well-meaning, pious, ambitious, and degenerate follow. I couldn't keep Mahmud II straight from Achmet IV half the time, let alone their favourites, mothers, brothers, sons, and officials. It's a pity, because Freely's prose style is competant, and a more general treatment of the family organised by theme instead of by time period would actually have been easier to follow.

As it is, many sultans are reduced to an accession to the throne, an event or two, and an ignominious abdication or murder. A handful of relatives and connections are named, and we're on to the next.

Some do stand out; the chapter on Suliman the Magnificient is memorable, if only for his eccentric attachment to Roxelana.

I'm glad I read it for some details of daily life the Ottoman court and its workings, but on the whole, I feel like I haven't retained much of the information. ( )