Customer Reviews

Defenders of the Faith: Christianity and Islam Battle for the Soul of Europe, 1520-1536

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Defenders of the Faith" is a history covering 1520-1536 AD which mainly focused on the politics and wars in Europe (Charles V, Francis I, Henry VIII, the popes, Martin Luther, etc.). Only a fourth of the book focused on Suleyman's battles in Europe, European diplomacy efforts toward him, descriptions of feasts he held, and his internal politics...and very little was said about the Sunni/Shi'i conflict.

The book used quotes from people living at the time and gave nice details about how things looked which helped bring the events alive in my imagination. However, for all it's detail (describing the scene, the weather, numbers of people, maneuvers, etc.), the book gave only a surface assessment of the motives behind the actions. The author judges the actions from hindsight, knowing the results of the decisions, rather than giving a "this is how the situation might have appeared to them" view. He also assumes the worst motives behind the actions. This critical and cynical view of events results in a lot of negative language being used to describe the people and their actions.

There was a mild bias in this book. Whenever the author described cruel actions by the Turks against Christians, neutral language was used. If Christians did the same actions against Turks/Muslims, negative language was used. Also, the Hospitaller knights were called "fanatics," popes rarely had anything positive said about them, and the author used mocking language when describing how Martin Luther feared he might be killed when he had every reason to think he would be. Also, descriptions of people changed throughout the book. For example, a pope was described as sly/scheming when he was being sly/scheming and then described as gullible when his actions appear gullible. I didn't feel I could trust the author's assessment of the situations, but he also didn't give me enough information for me to draw my own conclusions.

The book included several nice black and white maps covering the areas described and black and whites pictures of the personages described in the book.

If you're interested in the Reformation (which made up a large portion of this book), then I'd recommend other, less biased books. History buffs wanting an overview of European politics during this time period might find this book interesting. If you've read this author's previous books and liked them, then I suspect you'll like this book as well.

Review by Debbie from Different Time, Different Place Book Reviews

This book is excellent. It describes in great detail the little known but incredibly infleuntial showdown between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire. A conflict that raged all along the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, Italy, and North Africa, to the very heart of Europe at the city of Vienna. The fact that the Turk was thrown back from the walls of Vienna has been seen as a decisive turning point in the history of the World. This book is fascinating and easily readable, and it is a perfect compliment to Roger Crowley's "Empire's of the Sea."

Defenders of the Faith: Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520 - 1536 by James Reston is a wonderful and very informative examination of the times of Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and Suleyman the Manificent leader of the Ottoman Turks during the years 1520 to 1536.
Suleyman inherited an empire that included much of the eastern Mediterranean. Like his father and grandfather before him, his attention was drawn to the subjugation of Hungary and Austria and their annexation into the Ottoman Empire. Had he been successful in his attack on Vienna it most certain that European history would be significantly different than what actually occurred. Charles V likewise inherited an empire comprising much of northern Europe.
It is interesting that at the exact time Suleyman gained the throne of the Ottoman Empire, an equally talented Charles V was named the head of the Holy Roman Empire. Two diverse but capable leaders pitted against one another in a head on collision that defined the world that came later. James Reston is superb at examining the struggle that resulted from the two cultures. I have to agree with other reviewers that criticize Reston for his "novelization" of the story he tells. It is distracting and happens throughout the book.
That being said, Reston is a master researcher. That is evident by the details he manages to include as he examines the period and the background to the events. That he spends a great deal of time explaining the ins and outs of the reformation is to be understood. The reformation distracted not just Charles V but also all of the European kings and so tainted the relationships of the major heads of state that they ignored the growing threat to the east. I must also add that Reston is very good at keeping the reader from getting confused as he discusses the strategic battles. Given the almost complete lack of tactical maps, Reston's talent for tactical description is a very big plus.
As a companion to Defenders of the Faith, I would recommend Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley. Though Empires of the Sea deals with the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Christian Europe a generation later, it provides further insight into how the two sides conducted warfare, both offensive and defensive. For further reading on the battle for Europe during this period, read Enemy at the Gate: Hapsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe by Andrew Wheatcroft.
I continue to be fascinated by this period of history. It is not irrelevant given the geo/political environment we find ourselves in today.
I highly recommend.

I've read Reston's other books on Muslim - Christian conflicts and history, and this one is especially timely because it explains what happened in Vienna that prevented Suleyman from conquering Europe. Reston explains in a video interview (which I found online) that if Suleyman had succeeded, that not only Europe but America might well have been Islamic, which, given the current political focus of the US, is fascinating. He's a great writer, which is pretty much a requirement if you're going to be covering history that is 500 years old. I recommend this for people who are interested in better understanding the deep and long history of the religious conflict that still shapes our current US foreign policy in important ways.

This could be an excellent scholarly work. I eagerly anticipated its arrival so that I could dig into one of my favorite eras of history. The interaction between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Empire, as shown in this work, holds much to complement the standard histories of Germany and Austria. The book seems to be well researched and the bibliography is impressive.

However, there is one glaring quality that spoils an otherwise great book: the novelization of history. A few examples from "Defenders of the Faith":
"His green-yellow eyes blazed from his drawn cheeks."
"The emperor scanned the room." (How does the author know this?)
"He mumbled incomprehensibly, as if to himself." (No one could have recorded this, because it describes a lone figure preaching doom and gloom on the street.)
"Then after a pause he continued."
"The symbol of the agha's power was a mace of stone crystal, which he held aloft now, sparkling with the rays of the spring sunshine."

The other downer was the lack of footnotes, except for a few glosses of words and phrases.

I finished the book, but I soon got very tired of the novelization, and so I give it 2.5 stars.

As someone who is familiar with the history of the Reformation, this book filled in a number of gaps by providing a complete look at the political situation that shaped and influenced those events. It is incredibly well written by avoiding bogging down the reader with mindless details that don't add to the story. I have recommended this to all of my friends.

James Reston does a fantastic job in writing of this period of history. The salvation of Western Europe from the Ottoman Empire in this period of time is miraculous. The chaos which Martin Luther's revolution caused in a once unified Christian Europe is amply explained. The further split caused by Henry VIII of England is intriquing. The indecisiveness of Pope Clement VII is inexplicable. The inaction of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V to save Vienna, let alone Budapest is annoying. Reston explains the chaotic era in Europe at this juncture of history - the corruption within the Catholic Church, the proclamation of a new Holy Roman Emperor, the religious turmoil, the rise of nationalism among the multitude of European princes,the impact of the printed word, and the lack of a united front against the invasion of Eastern Europe by Suleyman, of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, it causes one to ponder the present fate of Western civilization in the twenty-first century.

This is a wonderfully entertaining reading experience that focuses on a number of leaders at a crucial historical nexus: the protestant movement is beginning to gain force (Martin Luther and Zwingli), absolutist nation-states are replacing the more loosely controlled feudal empire (Francis 1, Henry 8, et al.), and the Turkish Empire is reaching the limits of its expansion and about to begin its decline. The great virtue of this book is that it tells it all in an enthralling story, with bits of analysis thrown in, vivid characterizations that some argue is novelistic, and an evocation of what it might have felt like to live at that time. For what it is worth, I enjoyed every single page like it was a film.

While some reviewers criticize this book as not academic enough, I suppose they have a point. This is popular history par excellence, for the general reader and not the scholar. If the reader knows this and has the right expectations at the start, it is great fun. If the reader expects something more academic, they will not find it here.

There were a number of developments at this time that created fundamental precedents, all inter-related. First, the northern German states were ready to exit from the yoke of the Catholic church. They were developing the means (predominantly military) to do so and found their intellectual justification in the hands of a great firebrand, Luther, who supplied them with arguments and powerful writings that spread via the movable-type press.

Second, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sees himself as the defender of the Catholic orthodoxy, underpinning as it did (via the Pope) his legitimacy as the pre-eminent secular lord of a vast feudal empire that was supposed to be spiritually united. However, he also had the task of defending all of Christiandom, which preoccupied much of his career. He also had to fight the Pope from allying himself with Francis 1.

Third, in Suleyman, you have the last Turkish leader-conqueror of genuine genius. His armies were advancing into EUrope, fighting the Shiite "heresy" in Persia, expanding into Northern Africa, and developing naval dominance of the entire Mediterranean. Suleyman takes Hungry and threatens Vienna.

Fourth, you have proto-nation states in Britain and France, whose kings are consolidating power in narrower borders in ways that will enable them to forge armies far stronger than the loose feudal coalitions of knights and mercenaries under the command of Charles V. The chivalric era is clearly on its way out, to be replaced by tightly disciplined armies under unified command, armed with firearms and canons for blanket-area killing rather than only swords and pikes for individual-style combat.

While Charles V wanted to burn Luther at the stake, he had to allow the protestants time in order to unite Christians to repel the Turks. Once he turned his attention back to Northern Germany, it was too late to dislodge them either militarily or against their deeply engrained beliefs. Meanwhile, Henry 8 wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon (who also happened to be Charles V's niece), but faced bureaucratic delays (of special dispensation from the Pope) due to the wars over control of Italy, first by Francis 1 and later by Charles V; eventually, Henry went his own way, opening England to Protestantism in the next generation. This was context that I didn't know.

Reston weaves these developments together as if in a novel. My daughter (15) picked it up and, to my delight, could not put it down. For myself, while I am familiar with much of the history already, it was a delicious re-telling of events that served as a review of things I studied long ago.

Warmly recommended. Books like this make history fun, helping to spark a young mind to further inquiry in more seriously academic sources. It does end a bit abruptly, even arbitrarily, but after most of the action had set forces in motion that we feel to this day. This is a perfect snapshot in time.

James Reston, Jr. takes this very complex material and brings it to life. This is a totally engrossing book. It helped me to understand this period of history in a way I had not before.

I cannot say enough about how well this is done. Reston introduces the characters and presents their actions and motivations at a pace the reader can understand. He brings the battles, the politics and the pageantry to life.

Reston, undoubtedly, had many decisions along the way, what to put in and what to leave out. He strikes and excellent balance.

I highly recommend this book. I, for sure, will be reading more Reston.

The third book in a series, charting the clash between Islam and Christianity in historical terms. I actually started here, not knowing a thing about Reston and little about the subject matter involved. After reading three of the four books, I would rate this one the best of the lot, taking nothing away from the other works. Even if you didn't this subject would interest you, the intrigue between the players will keep you turning the pages until the end of the book. If you are like me, you will go straight back to the Amazon site and order the rest of the series...