“[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
內容簡介:
In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, Muslim ruler of the Ottoman
Empire, dispatched an invasion fleet to the Christian island of
Rhodes. This would prove to be the opening shot in an epic clash
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 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. 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. Empires of
the Sea is a story of extraordinary color and incident, and
provides a crucial context for our own clash of
civilizations.
關於作者:
Roger Crowley was born in 1951 and spent part of his childhood
in Malta. He read English at Cambridge University and taught
English in Istanbul, where he developed a strong interest in the
history of Turkey. He has traveled widely throughout the
Mediterranean basin over many years and has a wide-ranging
knowledge of its history and culture. He lives in Gloucestershire,
England. He is also the author of 1453: The Holy War for
Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West.
From the Hardcover edition.