Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 | 
 enlarge | Author: Roger Crowley
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Category: Book
List Price: £20.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 5094
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 0571232302
EAN: 9780571232307
ASIN: 0571232302
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Great story October 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Crowley does an extraordinary job putting together three extraordinary stories that marked the 16th Century in the Mediterranean: The siege of Rhodes, the siege of Malta, and the Battle of Lepanto. These stories, especially that of the siege of Malta, makes the book read like a novel, most enthralling and nail biting.
Although Crowley has written a very accurate and detailed account of these clashes between the Christian and Muslim worlds, one gets the impression, that he tends to minimize the role of Christian leaders, their armies and the importance of their victories, and maximizes that of the Ottoman side. For example, he doesn't give much importance to the conquest of Tunis by Emperor Charles V, while he gets to the detail with other minor Turkish exploits.
The author is notably pro Turkish throughout most of the book, presenting the Christians as more religious fanatics than the Muslims, when probably both were exactly the same. The fact that Crowley lived for a long period of his life in Istanbul may explain this and that he recreates himself longer when detailing the fascinating ottoman world. This is perfectly clear, when at the end of the book he goes through the list of mausoleums and great internments of all the ottoman main characters, while he ignores the final resting place of the Christian kings and admirals.
However, the book is fully recommendable, and anybody interesting in this period of history, and in the last of the crusades, will surely enjoy it.
 Superbly well written October 7, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is the best history book I have read in a very long time.
It tells the story of a 60 years old battle fought in the Mediterraneum by the Ottoman Turks against the Christian nations in southern Europe.
It is very hard to put down and the narrative is very engaging. The maps , pictures and drawings are excellent , a rarity in this type of books. although there are some minor issues with some historical aspects ( the muslims lived peacefully in Spain for 800 years ) the book is a very compelling read.
More please
Gripping tales September 15, 2008
An edge-of-the-seat gripping account of the long conflict between the Ottoman empire and the Christian Mediterranean powers in the fifteen hundreds. Crowley has also some original research, relying on not only the Christian writers of the time, but also Turkish sources that have usually been overlooked by previous historians. The characters are impressive, the acts of courage and desperation on both sides are astounding, and Crowley tells it masterfully, eking every last ounce of suspense out of what for any writer would be a stirring tale.
Crowley covers the standard military, diplomatic and political history in an even-handed way, and describes the brilliant Renaissance innovation each side progressively introduced to try to gain an advantage, including flamethrowers, spiral flues to protect walls from subterranean bomb blasts, frogmen fighting underwater with daggers, and top-secret new ship designs. He also sensitively brings out the human courage, cruelty, and sacrifice involved. History is rarely this well told.
Truth is stranger than fiction September 3, 2008
If this was a work of fiction you would have a hard time suspending disbelief to enjoy the amazing cast of characters, the strange alliances,the actions and inactions that decorate the plot. You would also be dismayed at the contrived outcome of the Siege of Malta.
BUT
This is an amazing true story told using a page - turning cracking narrative. I regret that I have only read half of the book but am glad I have half left to read.
Read this book and get swept away on the raging tide of history.
 Superb narrative history of an epic struggle August 4, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
The clash of civilisations is not a new notion. Civilisations have clashed for thousands of years, as rival tribes and nations with varying cultural mores and religious beliefs have struggled for supremacy.
In recorded history, Greek fought Persian, Roman fought Carthaginian (and countless others), and Christian fought Muslim.
It's the latter that we think of today when we shudder at the memory of 9/11 or sigh over the pointless loss of life in the Middle East.
This is a struggle that has flared up intermittently since the First Crusade in 1096 brought a motley crew of robber knights, religious zealots and sundry opportunists to wrest the holy places of Palestine from the hands of their Muslim overlords.
The crusades petered out towards the end of the 13th century, but at least one of the organisations that was born in the blood and sand of the Middle East survives today. They are the Knights of Malta, and while we know them as providers of an excellent voluntary ambulance and first aid service, their history was not always as peaceful.
The Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta figure largely in a marvellous new book which chronicles one phase of the Christian-Muslim conflict, the bitter struggle for mastery of the Mediterranean between 1521 and 1580.
In Empires of the Sea Roger Crowley brings back to mind half-remembered history lessons - the fall of Rhodes, the rise of the Barbary corsairs, the siege of Malta and the decisive battle of Lepanto.
Most people now who think of Malta in military terms focus on the siege during World War II when the tiny mountain top between Sicily and North Africa withstood months of attack by the German and Italian air forces. For its endurance, the island and its people were collectively awarded the George Cross, the highest British civilian award for gallantry.
But almost 400 years earlier, the Maltese and their then rulers, the Knights of St John, were tenacious in the defence of their stronghold against a huge Ottoman army which besieged them from May to September 1565.
The Ottomans, referred to by most of their oppponents as the Turks, although they comprised many more races, were experts at siege warfare. Crowley has already written about their capture of Constantinople and this book starts with the attack on Rhodes in 1522 after which the Knights were allowed to sail away to Malta. Among those who left was a young knight, Jean de la Valette, who as Grand Master of the order presided over and inspired the successful defence of Malta forty years later.
La Valette is just one of the giant personalities who people this account. On the Ottoman side are the sultans, Suleiman the Magnificent and his son Selim; the military commanders, Ali Pasha and Mustapha Pasha; the fearsome corsair Barbarossa; and many more.
For Christendom there are Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and after him his son, King Philip of Spain; the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria; the Venetian Sebastiano Venier; and the great Romantic hero Don Juan of Austria. Don Juan was the illegitimate son of Charles, half-brother of Philip, and his victory at the crucial naval battle of Lepanto in 1571 sparked innumerable poems, songs and dramas. He was even celebrated by GK Chesterton in his poem "Lepanto" as late as 1915.
If the personalities are giant, the events are huge. Vast amounts of gold were poured into building and equipping ships on both sides, and at times the losses were enormous. The naval battles were fought with galleys, rowed often but not always by slaves, which rammed each other to provide platforms for fierce hand to hand fighting.
The book reads like a thriller. It is narrative history, and the narrative it relates would scarcely be credible if it were presented as a work of fiction.
Heroes and villains abound, often in the same camp. Both sides are capable of great cruelty and great courage. In the siege of Malta La Valette stands in his armour in the front line of the defence as the Turks swarm up the rubble of a defensive wall.
At the last minute, on the most dangerous day of the siege, as in the most clichéd war movie, the cavalry literally comes over the hill and attacks the undefended enemy camp in the rear. The almost-triumphant Turks break off the attack to retrieve their valuables and re-take their camp, and valuable breathing space is gained.
Tales of individual heroism crowd the bigger picture. The commanders fought alongside their men. At Lepanto Ali Pasha, the Ottoman chief, shot dozens of arrows at his enemies as his flagship was captured. Don Juan danced a galliard on the gun platform as they sailed towards the enemy. A man hit in the eye by an arrow plucked it out, eyeball and all, tied a cloth around his head and continued fighting.
The battle was a turning point in history - never again did the Ottomans pose such a threat to the West. Up to this, even Rome was at risk from their ambitions.
Having just finished this book, I am inclined to go back to the beginning and start all over again. I certainly hope to do so before I visit some of the places where great and terrible deeds were accomplished. If you enjoy your history embellished with colour and enlivened with anecdote, this is the book for you.
One quibble, though: it's surprising that Faber, the publishers of poetry, were not more assiduous in their editing. Scrabbling is one word that is grossly over-used by the author, and discrete does not have the same meaning as discreet.
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