Name: 'EMPIRES OF THE SEA
ISBN: 9780571232307

Roger Crowley

THE FINAL BATTLE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN, 1521-1580'

'EMPIRES OF THE SEA

Stephen Gill 

Another really enjoyable study from Roger Crowley. The narrative on the Great Siege of Malta is gripping.

Jeni Enjaian

This book served as a breath of fresh air after the disaster that is Jess Walter's "Beautiful Ruins." I have not read many history books with as engaging a narrative as this one. Crowley choses such excellent words, words that convey complex word pictures and keep the reader engaged in what could be a rather dry, bloody narrative. Unlike Foreman in "A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War," Crowley juggles multiple characters magnificently. Each historical player has a clear and distinct role in the action of the narrative. Crowley includes a good sized bibliography and note section although both are placed at the end of the book as is common in history books targets for the wider public audience.
I highly recommend this book.

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.

'EMPIRES OF THE SEA THE FINAL BATTLE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN, 1521-1580'