Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World [Hardcover]

Roger Crowley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1400066247 | ISBN-13: 978-1400066247 | Publication Date: July 1, 2008 | Edition: 1st

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Is the West engaged in a “clash of civilizations” with the Islamic peoples of the Middle East? According to Crowley, that clash occurred in the sixteenth century, when Islam, under the leadership of the Ottoman Turks, seemed poised to dominate most of Europe. The “impregnable city” of Constantinople had been taken in 1453, and by the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Turks were ensconced in the Balkans. The key to the struggle between the Turks and the Christian West was control of the eastern rim of the Mediterranean Sea. The Turks had a formidable fleet, while the divided, quarreling Christian states seemed particularly vulnerable. Yet, through a combination of valor, military skill, and blind luck, the Christian West prevailed. Crowley’s exciting saga shows this struggle as grim, heroic, and inspiring. At the siege of Malta, a few hundred knights, remnants of a crusading order, held off 30,000 invading Turks. At Lepanto, Christians and Turks engaged in a naval bloodbath that decisively stemmed the Islamic tide. A beautifully written chronicle of a great and seminal struggle. --Jay Freeman

Review

“[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 of a novel.”—Tampa Tribune

“Crowley has an astonishing gift for narration; his account is as exciting as any thriller.”—Wall Street Journal

“Crowley’s page-turner history . . . deserves to be this [season’s] most recommended nonfiction book. . . . Rich in character, action, surprise, what transpired in those few desperate weeks is one of history’s best and most thrilling stories.”—Dallas Morning News



From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400066247
• ISBN-13: 978-1400066247
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > History > Europe > Malta

More About the Author

Roger Crowley is a UK-based writer and historian and a graduate of Cambridge University. As the child of a naval family, his fascination with the Mediterranean world started early, on the island of Malta. He has lived in Istanbul, walked across much of western Turkey, and traveled widely throughout the region. His particular interests are the Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman empires, seafaring, and eyewitness history. He is the author of three books on the empires of the Mediterranean and its surroundings: 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople (2005), Empires of the Sea (2008) and City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Waves (2012).His website address is www.rogercrowley.co.uk, where he blogs about history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mediterranean World of the 16th Century, July 27, 2008

By 

Izaak VanGaalen (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World (Hardcover)

In the 16th century, the Mediterranean was considered the center of world, and this book is about the great battles and sieges that took place when the armies of Islam and Christendom tried to dominate that world. In 2005, Roger Crowley published a book called 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West in which he recounted the events of the siege of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks. In the present volume the saga continues, he chronicles the expansion of the Ottoman empire under the leadership of Suleiman the Magnificent and his son Selim.

Crowley's first book was not only brilliant, it was also a commercial success; this volume should do as well or even better, for it is narrative history at its best. Crowley, who reads Turkish, was able to consult Ottoman diaries and modern works in Turkish. His accounts of the many land and sea battles are vivid, dramatic and multilayered, as they tell the story from different points of view.

The story begins in 1521 when the Knights of St John (a Christian military order) were routed from the island of Rhodes by the Ottomans and forced to retreat to Malta. The Ottomans were making gains everywhere around the Mediterranean with the help of their allies the Barbary pirates. It was a time of Islamic ascendency as the European powers were in disarray from internal squabbling.

The bulk of the book deals with the siege of Malta (1565). This was arguably one of the most heroic and odds-defying battles in history. About 600 Knights of St John were up against 30,000 Ottoman Turks. The battle was expected to last about 4 hours, instead it lasted 4 months, with the Turks ultimately retreating. Crowley's account of bravery and brutality is unparalled. He tells of how wounded soldiers were placed in chairs with their sword in hand fighting to the death.

The Ottoman siege of Malta failed but their invasions of Cyprus (1570) and Famagusta (1571) were successful. They also attempted to invade Lepanto in 1571. Crowley here gives us another great set-piece. While the siege of Malta took place at a fortress, this battle took place on the sea; in fact it was the largest sea battle before World War I. Crowley gives a fine diquisition on the relative merits of sail ships and oar-driven ships (galleons). The European forces prevailed as they had the more mobile oar-driven ships. Also an unpleasant reminder that these ships were manned by slaves (galley slaves). About 40,000 men died in about 4 hours, the highest rate of slaughter not seen until, again, World War I. One young writerly soldier named Miguel de Cervantes - wounded in battle - thought it to be the greatest event of the ages.

The Siege of Malta and the Battle of Lepanto were great stories, but they were just two conflagrations of the complex geopolitics of the 16th century Mediterranean. Crowley has done an excellent job, not only of describing the main events, but also filling in the background with rich detail.

101 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good, but not great, history work, July 3, 2008

By 

David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World (Hardcover)

Empires of the Sea rates a solid 4 stars. In a bit under 300 pages (plus footnotes and index) it covers a 50-year history of the struggle for control of the Mediterranean from 1521 to 1571. That's actually quite a lot of ground in 300 pages, considering what went on. So if you want a good general overview, the book is good. There are a few maps up front, a section with photographs--mostly of old paintings, plus a lot of woodcuts depicting mostly battle scenes and people. The woodcuts are fine, but at times you acutely feel the lack of some good modern-style maps of the action. Goodness knows, there are plenty of current maps showing the fleets at Lepanto and also the sieges on Malta.

I must admit to prejudice here. I still have my copy of Ernle Bradford's magnificent history The Great Siege--paperback, from 1966, cost 5 shillings, and getting quite threadbare from rereading every few years. When one great book like this can spawn a 40-year interest in the subject, you know that you have an outstanding work indeed. Bradford's book is almost entirely limited to the siege of Malta, whereas Crowley's book covers this in under 100 pages. You get much more detail with Bradford, and a dramatic sense of the struggle, much more so than with Crowley. The focus is narrower--so for breadth, turn to Crowley, for depth to Bradford. Both books will give you a look at the personalities involved, and both convey the aspects of warfare at the time. So this is a good addition to your history shelf.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, page-turning history, August 1, 2008

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World (Hardcover)

My cultural blinders have long confined my view of 16th century history mainly to northern Europe and the Atlantic. Roger Crowley's "Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World" is a powerful corrective for that too-narrow point of view.

The story of the struggle between the Islamic Ottoman Empire and Catholic Hapsburg Spain for control of the Mediterranean (with important consequences for the lands bordering the Mediterranean) as told by Crowley makes for compelling reading, filled with dazzling characters and astounding events. The Pope fleeing Rome in advance of an army of invading Turks was a real historical possibility, averted by a chain of circumstances perhaps much less likely than normally seems evident from this distance of time. Malta, a geographic key to the central Mediterranean withstood a massive Muslim attack and siege only by the narrowest of margins. And Lepanto, the last great battle of oared ships, could very easily have been lost by the Hapsburgs, and Islamic domination of Italy and the south of France and of Spain might well have followed, greatly altering the future course of events in Europe.

Crowly has done a superlative job of narrating this slice of history and making it wonderfully vivid.