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Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World | 
 enlarge | Author: Roger Crowley
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 7170
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6 x 2
ISBN: 1400066247
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.21
EAN: 9781400066247
ASIN: 1400066247
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | Audio CD - Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World | | • | Audio CD - Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World | | • | Paperback - Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World | | • | Audio CD - Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World | | • | Audio Download - Empires of the Sea: The Contest for the Center of the World (Unabridged) | | • | Kindle Edition - Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World |
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Product Description
In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, Muslim ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, dispatched an invasion fleet to the Christian island of Rhodes. This would prove to be the opening shot in an epic struggle between rival empires and faiths for control of the Mediterranean and the center of the world.
In Empires of the Sea, acclaimed historian Roger Crowley has written his most mesmerizing work to date–a thrilling account of this brutal decades-long battle between Christendom and Islam for the soul of Europe, a fast-paced tale of spiraling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, “The King of Evil,” the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St. John, the last crusading order after the passing of the Templars; the messianic Pope Pius V; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria.
This struggle’s brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, seven years that witnessed a fight to the finish decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta, in which a tiny band of Christian defenders defied the might of the Ottoman army; the savage battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defense of southern Europe at Lepanto–one of the single most shocking days in world history. At the close of this cataclysmic naval encounter, the carnage was so great that the victors could barely sail away “because of the countless corpses floating in the sea.” Lepanto fixed the frontiers of the Mediterranean world that we know today.
Roger Crowley conjures up a wild cast of pirates, crusaders, and religious warriors struggling for supremacy and survival in a tale of slavery and galley warfare, desperate bravery and utter brutality, technology and Inca gold. Empires of the Sea is page-turning narrative history at its best–a story of extraordinary color and incident, rich in detail, full of surprises, and backed by a wealth of eyewitness accounts. It provides a crucial context for our own clash of civilizations.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 Incredibly gripping military history November 18, 2008
This is an excellent piece of very readable military history covering a period often if not universally overlooked in the education of most people.
The author makes excellent uses of the sources available to him and lets the primary sources speak using their own voice whenever possible. This makes for a very reliable and well constructed piece of historical writing. His style is flowing and interesting and he refrains, mercifully, from dwelling too much on the gruesome details that abound in the historical record of the period.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in an overview of the battles between Europe and an ascendant Ottoman empire at the hight of its powers in general or interested in a very detailed account of the absolutely fascinating siege of Malta. Its coverage of the battle of Lepanto is less well done but still competent. A great read.
Finally, the narrator in the audio version of the book is brilliant.
Essential background November 18, 2008
I am working on a dissertation that investigates the founding of the Turkish Republic, the resolution of a trauma that began 350 years earlier. Crowley does an incredible job of portraying events through the eyes of the combatants at all levels. Yes, I intend to cite this work in my own work.
Well done.
 Lepanto and the Modern World November 16, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a great work though its conclusion misses the most important point of all: the road from Malta to Lepanto marked the end of the last Muslim superpower. After 900 years, the business model, if you like, was obsolete. There were some failed attempts at recovery, notably the second siege of Vienna in 1680. But, after Lepanto, the Ottomans were on their way to becoming what Nicholas I in 1853 called "the sick man of Europe" and to setting the preconditions for the First World War.
The size of the power vacuum Lepanto created was truly stunning and ripped through the first half of the twentieth century like a scythe.
Lepanto did the unthinkable to Islam. It cut off the road to technological, economic, and territorial domination. Europe spent the next century and a half sorting itself out, violently for the most part, but with relatively little to worry about from the once mighty and ever expanding Islamic empires to its east and south.
Europe exploited the new world without the worries of Charles V or Philip II that the back door in the Mediterranean was open.
That freedom to exploit -- and exploit the Europeans did -- also gave us the advanced democracies of the U.S. and Canada. It also opened the way to Western domination of the sea lanes to India and China, with consequences that reshape our world daily.
One of the most disturbing consequences of Lepanto is the seething resentment of those whose religious conceit leads them to believe that the world must be Muslim and who, but for Lepanto, are powerless to effect their goals. From them we got 9/11. And more to come.
A fascinating and well-written piece November 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
During the middle of the sixteenth century, the Mediterranean Sea was the prime battlefield upon which the Ottoman and Hapsburg Empires dueled. Starting in 1521 with the Ottoman attack and capture of the island of Rhodes, the two empires fought a seesaw battle across the sea, with the Muslims relentlessly pushing the Christians back until the battle reached the center of the Mediterranean. In 1565, the Ottomans launched a massive invasion of the island of Malta, believing that an easy victory awaited them. But, after a grueling battle that culminated in a humiliating defeat, the Muslim advance across the sea was finally checked. And, with the historic Battle of Lepanto, the Turks suffered a naval setback from which they never recovered.
This is the story of the titanic contest that, perhaps more than any other event, decided whether or not Europe would successful resist Muslim conquest.
Overall, I must say that I really enjoyed this book. The author did an excellent job of taking the history of what happened, and turning it into an interesting read. Indeed, I found the author's story of the fall of the fort of St. Elmo on Malta to be so moving that it actually chocked me up. That's very unusual for a work of non-fiction.
So, let me just say that if you are interested in history, you will enjoy this fascinating and well-written piece. I do not hesitate to give it my highest recommendations!
Empires of the Sea October 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was an exceptional book of history. I found myself sitting up well past midnight in order to reach the end of a major section. Gripping and extremely informative. I would recommend it with enthusiasm. Two other excellent books helped lay a groundwork for my appreciation of this work. Norwich's 3 volume Byzantium is an exceptional piece of work. When I reached the end, I was wishing for a fourth volume. Short of that, Mansel's excellent Constantinople picks up where Norwich leaves off and completes the history through the end of the Ottoman empire. For anyone wishing to have a sweeping sense of the important history of the eastern Mediterranean, I can recommend all these volumes with gusto.
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