Confessions Of A Janissary

It is the late 14th Century. The young Ottoman Empire is on the rise. The Sultan's secret weapons are his elite Janissary soldier-slaves: Christian boys taken from their families, forcibly converted to Islam, and conscripted into a lifetime of military service to the Empire. Confessions of a Janissary is the epic journey of a boy who will become a man, a slave who will become a legend, a sworn celibate searching for his long-lost love, and a wandering sheep in need of a worthy shepherd. Originally released on Amazon's Kindle Vella serialized fiction platform in July 2021, Confessions of a Janissary has received the following accolades: #67 Overall "Top Faved" among thousands of Kindle Vella stories "Top Faved" among Historical Fiction stories "Top Faved" among Action & Adventure stories "Confessions of a Janissary was an absolutely excellent read. Companionship, adventure, massive battles, military training, drama, medieval themes, romance, politics, suspense, faith, just to name a few--it was all there. The author is a skilled writer and the adventures of Mirko and his companions leave a constant desire to continue reading. I just kept reading the book, couldn't put it down, and was able to do some reflection. The author has an uncanny way of immersing you in the environment of the 14th Century yet simultaneously making it extremely personally relatable. This book is both an intense, fun, and reflective read. I can only hope a sequel is written." - Amazon Review

“The King shall lose both head and crown...” In The Peasant War, the first book of this amazing trilogy, the ancient prophecy came to pass, as an army of serfs and janissaries overthrew the corrupt dynasty. Janissary General Dmitry Konchak is now an unlikely hero of the Revolution -- a military genius who is squeamish and faints at the sight of blood, an effeminate drunkard, an outsider among the political elite, the so-called “New People” whom he helped bring to power. In the second book, The New People In Power, Field Marshal Konchak fights to reunite the empire and re-conquer breakaway regions, including his own native province. In the village where he was born, the janissary comes face to face with his own past, as an ancient Oracle foretells a ghastly future. In The Final Conflict, the third book of The Janissary trilogy, Konchak must save the empire which he himself forged, against its fiercest and most determined foe. As war wages on, neither enemy atrocities, nor assassinations, nor relentless power struggles within the ruling elite can deter Konchak from pursuing his personal destiny. The ancient gods, original inhabitants of this planet, for many generations trapped within a mountain, have decreed a unique fate for the janissary. But first he must settle scores with the man who betrayed him, and face the horrific loss of a beloved friend. In this satisfying finale, all the threads of the complex story come full circle to a final resolution: A missing letter from an old printing press; a message that travels across the continent only to be returned as “Undeliverable”; fragments of encrypted files used to catch a spy: all the mysteries are finally solved, concluding this epic story of revolution, war, friendship, love, and betrayal.

"From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, the janissaries were the scourge of Europe. They set up semi-independent states along the North African coast and even fought at sea. Their political power was such that even sultans trembled. Who were the janissaries? Why were they an elite? Why did they decline and what was their end? These are some of the questions which this book attempts to answer. It is the story of extraordinary personalities in both victory and defeat."--BOOK JACKET.

An overlooked classic of Italian literature, this epic and unforgettable novel recounts one man's long and turbulent life in revolutionary Italy. At the age of eighty-three and nearing death, Carlo Altoviti has decided to write down the confessions of his long life. He remembers everything: his unhappy childhood in the kitchens of the Castle of Fratta; romantic entanglements during the siege of Genoa; revolutionary fighting in Naples; and so much more. Throughout, Carlo lives only for his twin passions in life: his dream of a unified, free Italy and his undying love for the magnificent but inconstant Pisana. Peopled by a host of unforgettable characters - including drunken smugglers, saintly nuns, scheming priests, Napoleon and Lord Byron - this is an epic historical novel that tells the remarkable and inseparable stories of one man's life and the history of Italy's unification. Ippolito Nievo was born in 1831 in Padua. Confessions of an Italian, written in 1858 and published posthumously in 1867, is his best known work. A patriot and a republican, he took part with Garibaldi and his Thousand in the momentous 1860 landing in Sicily to free the south from Bourbon rule. Nievo died before he reached the age of thirty, when his ship, en route from Palermo to Naples, went down in the Tyrrhenian Sea in early 1861. He was, Italo Calvino once said, the sole Italian novelist of the nineteenth century in the 'daredevil, swashbuckler, rambler' mould so dear to other European literatures. Frederika Randall has worked as a cultural journalist for many years. Her previous translations include Luigi Meneghello's Deliver Us and Ottavio Cappellani's Sicilian Tragedee and Sergio Luzzatto's Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age. Lucy Riall is Professor of Comparative History at the European University Institute. Her many books include Garibaldi. Invention of a Hero. 'Of all the furore that came out of the Risorgimento, only Manzoni and Nievo really matter today' - Umberto Eco 'The one 19th century Italian novel which has [for an Italian reader] that charm and fascination so abundant in foreign literatures' - Italo Calvino 'Perhaps the greatest Italian novel of the nineteenth century' - Roberto Carnero 'A spirited appeal for liberté, égalité and fraternité, the novel is also an astute, scathing and amusing human comedy, a tale of love, sex and betrayal, of great wealth and grinding poverty, of absolute power and scheming submission, of idealism and cynicism, courage and villainy' - The Literary Encyclopedia

English translation reprinted from bilingual ed., originally published by: Ann Arbor: Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan, 1975.

Although not entirely a happy memoir, this book looks back on the author’s life with a dash of humor. It reminds the author of his mostly painful yet rewarding challenges while growing up, and being a Greek orphan. In this book, he states that his life had an enormous toll on him, leaving deep scars that are diffi cult to heal. However, this story is not merely about the author’s life. It also contains several universal themes about childhood, adoption, how to raise children, and more. Touching and enlightening at the same time, Twentieth-Century Janissary: An Orphan’s Search For Freedom, Family, and Heritage also invites the younger generation of Greeks to cherish their heritage and legacy. This book is available in trade paperback, trade hardback, and eBook formats. For more information, interested parties may log on to www.Xlibris.com.

Although not entirely a happy memoir, this book looks back on the author's life with a dash of humor. It reminds the author of his mostly painful yet rewarding challenges while growing up, and being a Greek orphan. In this book, he states that his life had an enormous toll on him, leaving deep scars that are diffi cult to heal. However, this story is not merely about the author's life. It also contains several universal themes about childhood, adoption, how to raise children, and more. Touching and enlightening at the same time, Twentieth-Century Janissary: An Orphan's Search For Freedom, Family, and Heritage also invites the younger generation of Greeks to cherish their heritage and legacy. This book is available in trade paperback, trade hardback, and eBook formats. For more information, interested parties may log on to www.Xlibris.com.