Scanderbeg

by Harry Hodgkinson, David Abulafia (Introduction), Bejtullah Destani (Editor)

This is the first biography of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg (1403-1468), published in England for more than four hundred years. The son of a prince of N Albania, he was educated in the Muslim faith as a hostage at the court of Sultan Murad II. The sultan showered favors on him and gave him the title bey and an army command. In 1443, when the Ottomans indicated they would attack Albania, Scanderbeg escaped to his homeland, abjured Islam, and formed a league of princes among the Albanian chieftains. He proclaimed himself prince of Albania. To resist the Ottomans under Sultan Muhammad II, Scanderbeg received aid at various times from Venice, Naples, Hungary, and the pope. Written by the late Harry Hodgkinson, a former naval intelligence officer who served under Ian Fleming, this engrossing and elegantly crafted book is an attempt to bring the reader closer to this famous historical figure and to set him in the dramatic context of Albania and its history.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Bland Ashiku · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in history more than in folklore, this is one of the best books to read about the middle ages in the Balkans, the predictable demise of Byzantium and the almost twenty-five year long hand-to-hand duel between George Alexander Castrioti and the Ottomans.

[Wade Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very glad I read this book, but I think there has got to be a better biography of Scanderbeg out there. This edition needed a better editor. The author did not produce a detailed and long enough biography to satisfy my curiosity. Read this book and see what you think.

[Kristian]

this book is about a warrior of albania who did what ever he could to make the albanians free from the serbs. he started his warrior life at 14 he was as build as a mashion not afraid of war or anything. he won so many battles against the serbs that eventually the serbs once they saw him they back up. he had a nice horse that was killed with him, he will always be remebered as our big warrior.
i can connect this to the world because we have awaariors everywhere.
i give this bokk a 5 because i learned more about my country and my people. i reccomend this book to albanians