The Sultan's Organ [Kindle Edition]

I loved this little snapshot into life in 1599. It's a translation into modern English of the actual diary of an organ builder who travelled by ship to Constantinople to accompany an extraordinary 'Present' from the Queen of England to the Sultan of Turkey. The gift was a sixteen-foot-high jewel-encrusted self-playing organ. What a fascinating story it makes, and made all the more intriguing by the gaps in the diary where Dallam says he saw wonderful things but doesn't have time to describe them!

It takes the ship weeks just to leave the shores of England because of pirate attacks, the fact that they were at war with Spain, and bad weather. There's the first account of a foreigner's overland crossing of mainland Greece, with amusing encounters of folks they meet along the way. When they reach the Sultan's palace, guarded by the Janissaries ('trained in fighting and gardening' - I love the image this conjures!), the details become even more fascinating. They unpack the organ to find it's practically been destroyed by the conditions on the ship and has to be rebuilt. Dallam being the only man who knows how to work it, he has to prepare it to play at just the right moment and gets closer to the Sultan than most would ever have dared, and it's touch and go whether he'll be executed or forced to stay forever.

It's been put into this easy to read format by John Mole, well known as author of It's All Greek to Me. Mole adds further context at the end with notes on what happened to the various characters involved after this journey. But at no point does it ever feel academic or dry. Well worth a read.

Having seen and heard the famous Robert Dallam organ in Lanvellec, France, and with a strong interest in early music, I ordered the paperback book out of curiosity, to discover that the traveller was the father of Robert. The tradition of organ-building passed through several generations of the family. The diary is presented in modern English which helps the tale to romp along, whilst managing to retain a strong period atmosphere. My knowledge of history and geography being weak I accepted the recommendation to follow the journey using Google maps and satellite images, which made it even more absorbing and thought-provoking. It offers reflections on human courage and frailty, as well as political expediency which the modern reader cannot fail to find thought-provoking. I commend this charming book to readers of all ages.

This is an extraordinary story of how a 24-year old organ inventor became the first Westerner to see the inside of the Turkish Sultan's harem and live - and come back to London overland via Greece, another first.

But not only is it a rattling tale of adventure into strange and unknown lands, it is also a revealing insight into some of the customs and attitudes of the time, both national and religious. He shows us how "Turk" and "Greek" were religious labels, and what pressure there was in Moslem countries to convert to Islam in order to escape from slavery, as well as for all women to wear the burka. The centuries between then and now, the rise and fall of nationalism and religious tolerance, seem in the light of this book to have been a passing phase.

Equally fascinating is the way some Greek islands only produced one or two products, but England was buying a wide range of goods from the whole world and marketing itself as a high end supplier of technology and culture. Are we back there again?

Dallam's is an extraordinarily fresh and spontaneous account of the many adventures that they encounter. It reads almost like modern journalism, without the philosophic detail of other Elizabethan writers. He was not an aristocrat, but a highly skilled artisan, inventor and musician. His opinion of the corrupt, bribe-taking captain of their ship is withering, but his view of consuls or ambassadors balanced, giving credit when due and blame when justified.

All in all, a fascinating read, made easier by John Mole's excellent rendering into modern English and occasional notes to explain Dallam's account by what else we know of the events and attitudes he relates. So many riches in a relatively short account!