Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World

✍ Scribed by Crowley, Roger

• Book ID: 108228524
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 1 MB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781588367334

✦ Synopsis

From Booklist

Is the West engaged in a clash of civilizations with the Islamic peoples of the Middle East? According to Crowley, that clash occurred in the sixteenth century, when Islam, under the leadership of the Ottoman Turks, seemed poised to dominate most of Europe. The impregnable city of Constantinople had been taken in 1453, and by the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Turks were ensconced in the Balkans. The key to the struggle between the Turks and the Christian West was control of the eastern rim of the Mediterranean Sea. The Turks had a formidable fleet, while the divided, quarreling Christian states seemed particularly vulnerable. Yet, through a combination of valor, military skill, and blind luck, the Christian West prevailed. Crowleys exciting saga shows this struggle as grim, heroic, and inspiring. At the siege of Malta, a few hundred knights, remnants of a crusading order, held off 30,000 invading Turks. At Lepanto, Christians and Turks engaged in a naval bloodbath that decisively stemmed the Islamic tide. A beautifully written chronicle of a great and seminal struggle. --Jay Freeman

Review

[Crowley] offers exquisitely delicate insights and undulating descriptive passages. Yet in his descriptions of the battles, his prose is so taut and tense, it is impossible not to be caught up in the harrowing action.Christian Science Monitor
A masterly narrative that captures the religious fervor, brutality and mayhem of this intensive contest.Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Gripping . . . This is a rare combination of a history book that reads with the detail, insight and pace of a novel.*Tampa Tribune

*Crowley has an astonishing gift for narration; his account is as exciting as any thriller.*Wall Street Journal*

Crowleys page-turner history . . . deserves to be this [seasons] most recommended nonfiction book. . . . Rich in character, action, surprise, what transpired in those few desperate weeks is one of historys best and most thrilling stories.Dallas Morning News