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Sea of Faith: Islam and Christianity in the Medieval Mediterranean World
The long, shared history of Christianity and Islam began, shortly after Islam emerged in the early seventh century A.D., with a Who would inherit the Greco-Roman world of the Mediterranean? Sprung from the same source―Abraham and the Revelation given to the Jews―the two faiths played out over the course of the next millennium what historian Stephen O'Shea calls "a sibling rivalry writ very large." Their cataclysmic clashes on the battlefield were balanced by long periods of co-existence and mutual enrichment, and by the end of the sixteenth century the religious boundaries of the modern world were drawn. In Sea of Faith , O'Shea chronicles both the meeting of minds and the collisions of armies that marked the interaction of Cross and Crescent in the Middle Ages―the better to understand their apparently intractable conflict today. For all the great and everlasting moments of cultural interchange and tolerance―in Cordoba, Palermo, Constantinople―the ultimate "geography of belief " was decided on the battlefield. O'Shea vividly recounts seven pivotal battles between the forces of Christianity and Islam that shaped the Mediterranean world―from the loss of the Christian Middle East to the Muslims at Yarmuk (Turkey) in 636 to the stemming of the seemingly unstoppable Ottoman tide at Malta in 1565. In between, the battles raged round the Mediterranean, from Poitiers in France and Hattin in the Holy Land during the height of the Crusades, to the famed contest for Constantinople in 1453 that signaled the end of Byzantium. As much as the armies were motivated by belief, their exploits were inspired by leaders such as Charles Martel, Saladin, and Mehmet II, whose stirring feats were sometimes accompanied by unexpected changes of heart.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
September 15, 2013
Stephen O'Shea examines the thousand years over which Islam and Christianity contested the Mediterranean, keeping in mind that the armies and navies that clashed were not always composed of one side to the exclusion of the other. It is his contention that this millenium of strife is best seen through seven battles, not all of which are those that one would expect him to choose: no stopping the Ottomans at the gates of Vienna, no final eviction of Islam from Spain, no sea battle of Lepanto (which he thinks is chiefly notable because Cervantes almost died there). The seven battles are: Yarmuk, in which the surging Arabs ended the Heraclian revival of the Byzantines; Poitiers, where the Spanish halted the conquest of Western Europe; Manzikert, which many, including the Byzantines themselves, saw as the beginning of their end, administered by the Seljuk Turks; Hattin, where Saladin defeated the Crusaders; las Navas de Toledo, where three Spanish kingdoms united victoriously against Muslims; of course, the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople; and Malta, where the Hospitaler order held off the Ottomans. There are side trips to Cordoba and Sicily for moments at which Christians and Muslims lived in a cultured peace. O"Shea is a fluid writer and he examines the Mediterranean at both peace and war with insight, fairness and gripping detail, gathering strength along the course of the book. He explains the geography and the social and political context of each battle, occasionally adding a dry personal note about the way these places look now, as when he stumbles upon the filming of a Turkish soap opera at the old Byzantine palace of Blachernae. The most vivid sections are Constantinople and Malta, perhaps because they were extended, dramatic sieges with extended close fighting on land and water and dramatic detail--as when the Ottomans carried their ships overland to avoid the great chain that protected Byzantium, or how the Hospitalers held back one battery to fire at and destroy a giant siege machine at Malta. One almost suspects that Malta gained its place in the book because it was so dramatic. But in the end O'Shea's recreation of these cultures and their shifting constituents and alliances and inevitable battles is vivid and convincing.
October 16, 2007
What a lovely thing it is when an author frames meaningful stories between evocative symbols. The Mezquita in Cordoba (originally a mosque, now converted into a Christian cathedral) and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (originally a Christian cathedral, now a mosque) - at opposite ends of the Mediterranean - serve to frame and introduce Sea of Faith. Other places, in the manner of Chaucer or Sheherezade, frame the tales within the tale - the canyon of the Yarmuk River on the Jordan's northern border, the towns of Poitiers in France and Manzikert in Turkey, the crusaders' Church of Our Lady of Tortosa in Syria, the Giralda in Seville, and the fortifications of Constantinople (Istanbul) and Malta - all appreciatively described and meaningfully interpreted. Clear prose presented with such artistry makes this book a delightful read.
These days we are often reminded of the conflicts between the Islamic and Christian worlds. Not avoiding the stories of conflict - the text is also framed by seven battles - O'Shea balances them with equally important and meaningful stories of "convivencia": eras of coexistence and commingling. One of the most rich and charming is his brief account of the meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and the nephew of Saladin, Sultan of Cairo, which took place in the Egyptian town of Damietta in 1219. "The ruler of Cairo, a worldly Muslim accustomed to the excesses of the Sufis, gave the man a polite hearing. ... What actually transpired during this peculiar interview will forever remain unknown, save that Saladin's nephew allowed Francis to talk - and to live. ... The sultan's meeting with the ecstatic genius of Assisi can be seen as emblematic of the next two centuries around the Mediterranean. There would be more to the relationship between Christian and Muslim than merely the sword or the study room. On that occasion in Damietta, a steely-eyed realist came up against a foot-in-the-other-world fanatic. Others like them would meet in many places of the Mediterranean of the time, an era when medieval convivencia took on its broadest meaning. Muslim and Christian were no longer strangers around the inland sea; their commingling, centuries old, had gone beyond sibling rivalry to become acrimonious and accommodating all at once. This was the fullest sense of convivencia, where strife and friction went hand in hand with acceptance of the other."
If you want to know and feel that differences between Muslims and Christians, though they produce tension, need not divide the world in a "clash of civilizations" as some of today's more hysterical voices cry, and if you want to be assured of the creativity and richness and depth to be found in loving our neighbors as ourselves to the fullest extent we can, Sea of Faith is for you.
These days we are often reminded of the conflicts between the Islamic and Christian worlds. Not avoiding the stories of conflict - the text is also framed by seven battles - O'Shea balances them with equally important and meaningful stories of "convivencia": eras of coexistence and commingling. One of the most rich and charming is his brief account of the meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and the nephew of Saladin, Sultan of Cairo, which took place in the Egyptian town of Damietta in 1219. "The ruler of Cairo, a worldly Muslim accustomed to the excesses of the Sufis, gave the man a polite hearing. ... What actually transpired during this peculiar interview will forever remain unknown, save that Saladin's nephew allowed Francis to talk - and to live. ... The sultan's meeting with the ecstatic genius of Assisi can be seen as emblematic of the next two centuries around the Mediterranean. There would be more to the relationship between Christian and Muslim than merely the sword or the study room. On that occasion in Damietta, a steely-eyed realist came up against a foot-in-the-other-world fanatic. Others like them would meet in many places of the Mediterranean of the time, an era when medieval convivencia took on its broadest meaning. Muslim and Christian were no longer strangers around the inland sea; their commingling, centuries old, had gone beyond sibling rivalry to become acrimonious and accommodating all at once. This was the fullest sense of convivencia, where strife and friction went hand in hand with acceptance of the other."
If you want to know and feel that differences between Muslims and Christians, though they produce tension, need not divide the world in a "clash of civilizations" as some of today's more hysterical voices cry, and if you want to be assured of the creativity and richness and depth to be found in loving our neighbors as ourselves to the fullest extent we can, Sea of Faith is for you.
September 6, 2024
This is a really good book, one to keep for reference, as the subject matter is about the struggle between Christianity and Islam in the Mediterranean region.
The main strand of the book starting with Yarmuk in 636, via Poitiers in 732, Manzikert in 1071, Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, to Constantinople in 1453 and finishing with Malta in 1565 are the battles, the confrontation between the two religions. The good thing is that the book covers the lead up to each battle and the aftermath too.
I had never realised that Malta in 1565 was such a close run thing, another few hours and the result could have been very different, with all that would have meant for Sicily and the rest of Western Europe. The 1571 defeat at the naval battle of Lepanto cemented the situation.
The main strand of the book starting with Yarmuk in 636, via Poitiers in 732, Manzikert in 1071, Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, to Constantinople in 1453 and finishing with Malta in 1565 are the battles, the confrontation between the two religions. The good thing is that the book covers the lead up to each battle and the aftermath too.
I had never realised that Malta in 1565 was such a close run thing, another few hours and the result could have been very different, with all that would have meant for Sicily and the rest of Western Europe. The 1571 defeat at the naval battle of Lepanto cemented the situation.
December 2, 2020
'Sea of Faith' is a fast-paced gloss on Mediterranean history from the sixth through the sixteenth centuries, focused on the long-term religious, political, military, cultural, and economic competition between (and within) Christianity and Islam. The book does not romanticize this competition, nor does it lionize one side and demonize the other. It strikes me as a balanced history, if a rushed one (313 pages of text to cover a millennium), that still takes time to mix in photos and a contemporary travelogue of the author's journeys to important sites around the Sea.
If I have a criticism of this book, it's that it's too fast-paced. The names of places and peoples, many of them foreign-sounding to the contemporary American ear, come at the reader so fast that it can be hard to stay focused on just who is massacring whom, and why. Consequently, I suggest that the reader approach this book in small doses, perhaps at the rate of one chapter per evening, instead of blasting through it at the rate of 50-75 pages per sitting (as is my wont).
If like me, you feel that you have a medieval-sized gap in your knowledge of Mediterranean history in general, and Levantine history in particular, you'll get a lot value from this book. You'll also appreciate it if you'd like more fidelity on the history of Christian-Muslim relations.
Recommended for: history lovers, particularly those with an interest in religious history.
If I have a criticism of this book, it's that it's too fast-paced. The names of places and peoples, many of them foreign-sounding to the contemporary American ear, come at the reader so fast that it can be hard to stay focused on just who is massacring whom, and why. Consequently, I suggest that the reader approach this book in small doses, perhaps at the rate of one chapter per evening, instead of blasting through it at the rate of 50-75 pages per sitting (as is my wont).
If like me, you feel that you have a medieval-sized gap in your knowledge of Mediterranean history in general, and Levantine history in particular, you'll get a lot value from this book. You'll also appreciate it if you'd like more fidelity on the history of Christian-Muslim relations.
Recommended for: history lovers, particularly those with an interest in religious history.
March 17, 2018
The author examines historical Christian/Muslim conflicts around the Mediterranean by focusing on 10 events. Not only did the two religions fight with each other, but they fought amongst each other - Byzantine versus Latin, Seljuk versus Ottoman. Sometimes Christians joined Muslims to fight other Christians. Many times the Christians were brutal while Muslims practiced tolerance. An enjoyable, engaging read.
February 1, 2016
Very interesting history of the Mediterranean region, and the conflicts amongst Christians and Muslims, and between Christians and Muslims.
February 19, 2018
amazing book about the history of muslim/christian relations in the eastern med that challenges conventional notions
February 3, 2022
This goes on my list of books everyone should read. By taking an even-handed perspective on the rise of Islam and Christianity it makes both sides of history—Christian and Muslim—equally accessible. The writing style is thoroughly engaging and insightful. This book has changed my perspective on European, North African, and middle eastern history.
May 23, 2011
Excellent historical narrative of the main incidents in the struggle over control of the Mediterranean in the past two thousand years.
I enjoyed this.
I enjoyed this.
September 17, 2018
Book by Stephen O’Shea gives us a glimpse (the book is too short to provide us with many details) at the history of Islam and Christianity from the moment Islam was born to capturing Constantinople (1453) and heroic defense of Malta (1565). Usually, when we think about Middle Ages we think of our own countries, the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty, Vikings and Saracens. And of course – the Crusaders, but without appropriate context and information about both sides of the conflict. This book tries to do that and does it quite nicely.
O’Shea seems to be a little bit pro-islamic in the way he writes and sometimes I’ve wondered if the information he provides should be checked, so I am going to read some more about Mediterranean history, especially history of Spain, Al-Andalus and Cordoba. This book actually made me want to go to Spain and visit some places that are mentioned in the book which is good, because it means that the author can interest in the topic.
Especially the first half of the book seems interesting, when O’Shea writes about different approach to tolerance between Christians and Muslims, who were surprisingly more tolerant, opened to science and knowledge and how in some cities (like Palermo) each religion lived peacefully near each other.
The best thing of this book? It makes you think about the differences and similarities of both religions, how they could, at some point in some places coexist and how money and trade became more important than religions after all.
O’Shea seems to be a little bit pro-islamic in the way he writes and sometimes I’ve wondered if the information he provides should be checked, so I am going to read some more about Mediterranean history, especially history of Spain, Al-Andalus and Cordoba. This book actually made me want to go to Spain and visit some places that are mentioned in the book which is good, because it means that the author can interest in the topic.
Especially the first half of the book seems interesting, when O’Shea writes about different approach to tolerance between Christians and Muslims, who were surprisingly more tolerant, opened to science and knowledge and how in some cities (like Palermo) each religion lived peacefully near each other.
The best thing of this book? It makes you think about the differences and similarities of both religions, how they could, at some point in some places coexist and how money and trade became more important than religions after all.
January 29, 2025
The book does a great job at painting a vivid image of the landscape around the Mediterranean throughout the Middle-Ages and the different political, cultural and (briefly) theological interactions between Islam and Christianity from the Battle of Yarmouk to the Siege of Malta.
While an enjoyable and informative read, the writer’s underlying cynicism of religion can sometimes be made too apparent as motives are questioned with no evidence at times. No sources are given for the death of Caliph Muhammad Al Nasir as a result of excessive drinking nor the implication that Omar Bin Al Khattab might have had a hand in Khaled Bin Al Waleeds death (A proposition most Muslims would find preposterous).
The writer’s view of Mehmed Fatih and the claim that he had his brother drowned amongst some other mistakes are also questionable and risk sinking into an Orientalist view of Ottoman and Islamic history.
Overall still a good book that approaches the history of the Mediterranean in a very nuanced and disquisitive manner. Definitely recommended to anyone looking to learn more about early Islamic Conquests, The Crusades, the rise of the Ottomans and the rise and fall of Andalusian Civilization.
While an enjoyable and informative read, the writer’s underlying cynicism of religion can sometimes be made too apparent as motives are questioned with no evidence at times. No sources are given for the death of Caliph Muhammad Al Nasir as a result of excessive drinking nor the implication that Omar Bin Al Khattab might have had a hand in Khaled Bin Al Waleeds death (A proposition most Muslims would find preposterous).
The writer’s view of Mehmed Fatih and the claim that he had his brother drowned amongst some other mistakes are also questionable and risk sinking into an Orientalist view of Ottoman and Islamic history.
Overall still a good book that approaches the history of the Mediterranean in a very nuanced and disquisitive manner. Definitely recommended to anyone looking to learn more about early Islamic Conquests, The Crusades, the rise of the Ottomans and the rise and fall of Andalusian Civilization.
April 28, 2018
This is a very well written military history of the medieval Mediterranean. O’Shea gives a detailed description of ten key battles spanning nine centuries and an insightful cultural history of the cultural consequences that were the results. As he points out in his introduction, “…the encounter between Christian and Islamic societies was not exclusively of a religious nature. Sparks flew for many reasons, the greatest of which was the belief in war as the ultimate arbiter of politics and policy.” The result of these mixed motives, which still haunt us today, might be massacres, or commercial or religious convivencia, where the members of different faiths lived in peaceful coexistence and cooperation. There was, however, a tax on unbelief. It cost more to worship the God of Abraham if you didn’t worship Him the way your rulers did.
O'Shea’s research, witnessed by his impressive notes and bibliography, is impressive. As his vocabulary, as witnessed by how many times I had to look up the adjectives he uses in the Oxford English Dictionary.
O'Shea’s research, witnessed by his impressive notes and bibliography, is impressive. As his vocabulary, as witnessed by how many times I had to look up the adjectives he uses in the Oxford English Dictionary.
December 9, 2021
Though the author briefly describes the area in modern times, it provides a bit of color. During the time frame covered the religions (and cultures) had periods of warfare and periods where they got along. Each side had its divisions which assisted the opponents during warfare but at other times a leaders hold was solidified. It is interesting that it was mainly under Muslims that the three Abrahamic religions advanced science and culture. It is an interesting read providing a perspective not often taught in school.
September 18, 2025
Pretty tight book that balances accessible pop history with academic rigour. Its structurally centred around 6 major battles spanning 700 - 1500, and geographically mainly focused on Iberia, Anatolia, and the Crusader states in the Levant (Outremer). This book covers many people, major and minor, and respectfully discusses Islamic and Christian cultural and intellectual history (and their mixings, contacts, and frictions) in a nonpartisan way.
Highly recommended for beginner to intermediate readers of medieval history.
Highly recommended for beginner to intermediate readers of medieval history.
December 13, 2019
I enjoyed this book immensely. Stephen O'Shea illustrates the contentious yet surprisingly amicable (at times) relationship between the two religious heavyweights of the medieval age; Christianity & Islam. His engaging writing style makes this book a great read for all fans of history and religion!
May 29, 2022
A very good overview of the relationship between Islam and Christianity over 800 years. The choices of key events and battles are solid, as is the background provided on all the most important figures of the age. The author clearly loves the sound of his own writing style, but for the most part it remains concise and to the point.
January 2, 2023
I wanted to like this book so much. The subject matter is completely fascinating, but the truth is, it's boring. I've been hung up on reading this book for YEARS and I've never gotten very far, and I have a hard time staying engaged. I'm just going to accept defeat and move on.
April 4, 2020
I read this year's ago but I remember learning a lot from this book and enjoying it.
March 13, 2025
Decent, not the most in depth
April 11, 2015
Unusually, this rivetting study of the interplay between Islam and Christianity through the Middle Ages speaks of both conflict and convivencia. Spanning a thousand years of interaction punctuated by five major battles, this masterful account paints a more nuanced picture than any I have otherwise encountered. The explosive rise of Islam overturned a status quo in the Mediterranean which pre-dated Christianity and was bound to sow permanent rivalry. Mare nostrum, "our sea", had been a private Roman lake for a millenium before Islam, in less than a human lifetime, swept along its shores from Lebanon to the Pyrennees and choked off the trade with Africa. The ailing and exhausted Byzantine empire declined irreversibly and Europe entered a Dark Age. In due course, Constantinople itself, the new Rome, fell to the immense cannon of the Turks and Byzantium was no more, its Greek culture spilling into Europe to trigger a Renaissance and the end of the Middle Ages. Out of this sea was born our modern world and the shock of the Enlightenment.
At the same time as the old order fell, however, a dazzling civilisation arose under Islam. Jews, Muslims, Copts, Nestorians and Orthodox Christians entered a period of sometimes uneasy and often very unequal coexistence. The brilliance of ha Sefarad, al-Andalus, is well known. The Sephardic Jews, twice bereft in the aftermath of the Inquisition and their expulsion from Iberia, contributed to one of the great and productive civilisations of the Middle Ages. Less well known were the convivencias in the Levant, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The surprise for me, however, was that convivencias persisted for a time in Iberia and Sicily after the fall of Islamic governance. The various peoples had come to terms after centuries together and trade and cultural links were strong enough that a change of governance did not mean an immediate descent into persecution. The Crusaders softened through contact with the Muslim version of the good life and coveted its luxuries. The horrors of the Inquisition are known to all, but the period of coexistence following Christian irredentism and the pragmatic and secular nature of traditionally Christian heroes such as el Cid come as a shock.
El Cid. Al-Sayyid! The boss. The Spanish lexicon contains perhaps ten percent words of Arabic provenance. Gibraltar - Jebel al-Tariq. Guadalquivir - Wadi ul-Qibir. Clearly this is a convivencia with legs.
This was still a rivalry, of course. Yarmuk, Poitiers, Manzikert, Hattin, las Navas de Tolosa, Malta and the odious Hospitallers - one cannot understand the sea of faith, our sea, without treating with the battles, it seems. Mathematics, architecture, philosophy, language, diet - traditional historiography sweeps these under the carpet at the echo of the clash of steel. This book does not repeat this routine distortion. While it places the changing of hands in context, swords gripped and bloodied , it is clear from O'Shea's treatment that the Sea of Faith was much more than conflict.
This is a tapestry. And what a tapestry.
At the same time as the old order fell, however, a dazzling civilisation arose under Islam. Jews, Muslims, Copts, Nestorians and Orthodox Christians entered a period of sometimes uneasy and often very unequal coexistence. The brilliance of ha Sefarad, al-Andalus, is well known. The Sephardic Jews, twice bereft in the aftermath of the Inquisition and their expulsion from Iberia, contributed to one of the great and productive civilisations of the Middle Ages. Less well known were the convivencias in the Levant, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The surprise for me, however, was that convivencias persisted for a time in Iberia and Sicily after the fall of Islamic governance. The various peoples had come to terms after centuries together and trade and cultural links were strong enough that a change of governance did not mean an immediate descent into persecution. The Crusaders softened through contact with the Muslim version of the good life and coveted its luxuries. The horrors of the Inquisition are known to all, but the period of coexistence following Christian irredentism and the pragmatic and secular nature of traditionally Christian heroes such as el Cid come as a shock.
El Cid. Al-Sayyid! The boss. The Spanish lexicon contains perhaps ten percent words of Arabic provenance. Gibraltar - Jebel al-Tariq. Guadalquivir - Wadi ul-Qibir. Clearly this is a convivencia with legs.
This was still a rivalry, of course. Yarmuk, Poitiers, Manzikert, Hattin, las Navas de Tolosa, Malta and the odious Hospitallers - one cannot understand the sea of faith, our sea, without treating with the battles, it seems. Mathematics, architecture, philosophy, language, diet - traditional historiography sweeps these under the carpet at the echo of the clash of steel. This book does not repeat this routine distortion. While it places the changing of hands in context, swords gripped and bloodied , it is clear from O'Shea's treatment that the Sea of Faith was much more than conflict.
This is a tapestry. And what a tapestry.
March 31, 2011
This is in many ways a very good book. The three is given mostly because I think the book is too long. Before you hiss and catcall, hear me out. The book is about the interplay, and well, mutual murder, between the Christian West and the Islamic East. O'Shea starts his story with a brief description of the rise of the Arabian Empire, but quickly moves to the Battle of Poitiers, one of the points at which Islam was stopped in its quest to spread across the globe. It ends with a similar check, at Malta, in the 16th century.
This was odd. Why stop there? What about Vienna in 1683? What about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798? What about good old imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries? These were all critical moments in the relationship between the two cultures. Yes, yes, the book is called the Medieval Mediterranean world, but the world of 732 were the book starts, is not the same world as 1565 where the books end.
My take is that he had so much to say about the periods he does cover that there wasn't much room for anything else. Many of the stories are overlong with detail about this or that monarch. O'Shea takes a leader centric approach to the stories and it can take a bit long to get to what we need to know and understand. Yes, that is a bias on my part, but in case you share it, be aware.
Speaking of bias, the tone of the book, although not the content is subtly pro-Islamic. People tend to pick sides, and O'Shea's admiration is certainly on the Islamic side. It's not a big deal, as I say, he points out the unceasing negative actions of both sides. It's just his descriptions give away his perspective. Again, not a huge deal for most, but potentially so.
Ok, in the end this book is very readable. It manages to describe a world that is quite alien to many readers and make it easily understood. It is filled with lively descriptions of battles, a large number of nasty people, and every so often, a shining beacon of rectitude.
I also like that he makes clear that, shortly after the spread of Islam, the Islamic world was not monotlithic. Split on religious, political and ethnic lines, the Muslims were as often at war with themselves than with each other. Although, like the US in the Cold War, the Christian West viewed them as a monolith to their great mistake.
This was odd. Why stop there? What about Vienna in 1683? What about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798? What about good old imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries? These were all critical moments in the relationship between the two cultures. Yes, yes, the book is called the Medieval Mediterranean world, but the world of 732 were the book starts, is not the same world as 1565 where the books end.
My take is that he had so much to say about the periods he does cover that there wasn't much room for anything else. Many of the stories are overlong with detail about this or that monarch. O'Shea takes a leader centric approach to the stories and it can take a bit long to get to what we need to know and understand. Yes, that is a bias on my part, but in case you share it, be aware.
Speaking of bias, the tone of the book, although not the content is subtly pro-Islamic. People tend to pick sides, and O'Shea's admiration is certainly on the Islamic side. It's not a big deal, as I say, he points out the unceasing negative actions of both sides. It's just his descriptions give away his perspective. Again, not a huge deal for most, but potentially so.
Ok, in the end this book is very readable. It manages to describe a world that is quite alien to many readers and make it easily understood. It is filled with lively descriptions of battles, a large number of nasty people, and every so often, a shining beacon of rectitude.
I also like that he makes clear that, shortly after the spread of Islam, the Islamic world was not monotlithic. Split on religious, political and ethnic lines, the Muslims were as often at war with themselves than with each other. Although, like the US in the Cold War, the Christian West viewed them as a monolith to their great mistake.
September 2, 2013
This book details a number of major battles between the Islamic world and the Christian world occurring around the Mediterranean Sea. The major battle are Yarmuk (636), Poitiers (732), Manzikert (1071), Hattin (1187) Constantinople (1453) and Malta (1565). Additionally, there are chapters on the era of ‘convivencia’ in both Spain and Ottoman Constantinople. So, while each chapter deals with the major battles, the real focus of each chapter is the political, religious and intellectual events leading up to the actual battles. The book is extremely informative and has an incredible amount of background information on secondary events and people, There are excursions to Rhodes and Sicily and Majorca with much information on the Assassins, Inquisition and, to the author’s credit, a substantial description of the Jewish contributions to commerce and to the intellectual life of the various eras. The book is crammed with names, dates and events and requires time and commitment to fully appreciate its breath. The work also contains a full set of footnotes and a substantial bibliography. The writing flows well and, at times, the book is hard to put down. Upon reflection, however, it is a sad commentary on the human race, to think of the enormous waste of lives and of resources which were poured into wars of religion.
I would especially recommend this book if the reader has the time and the inclination to use it as a resource for further investigation into the events described.
I would especially recommend this book if the reader has the time and the inclination to use it as a resource for further investigation into the events described.
October 31, 2016
I bought this book ages ago and then never read it till recently. What folly. It's an extremely interesting, well researched look at Mediterranean history, filtered through the lens of the conflicts and alignments among the changing Islamic and Christian powers through the decades. I learned things I did not know - such as that Saladin was a Kurd, and far more honored by western historians than by Islamic ones, just one little fascinating tidbit. Reading this book will provide an excellent basic grounding in the ages-long conflicts among Sunni and Shiite and other branches of Islam, which still afflict the world today. While it covers the crusades, it's not a history of those wars of aggression, but far deeper and broader.
O'Shea is an excellent writer - he makes the stories he tells to illuminate his historical theses as gripping as good novels. I loved his book about the Albigensian Crusade; this one is as good, even if the subject matter didn't speak so personally to me. Highly recommended.
O'Shea is an excellent writer - he makes the stories he tells to illuminate his historical theses as gripping as good novels. I loved his book about the Albigensian Crusade; this one is as good, even if the subject matter didn't speak so personally to me. Highly recommended.
January 10, 2012
This is a very brief, yet interesting, history of the rise of the Muslim empire and the pushback it encountered from Christian lands.
I enjoyed the glimpses of various key points in Mediterranean history, but would have liked to have seen a little bit more about how the Jews fit in; in O'Shea's narrative they seem to be little more than unwitting victims/players in the big boys' games, with occasional reference to great Jewish thinkers thrown in.
I could have done without the modern-day references. I picked up the book because of its subject matter and because of my interest in the history of the region. The sudden shifts to descriptions of motor highways and concrete buildings actually took me out of the narrative and disrupted the flow of the stories for me.
I enjoyed the glimpses of various key points in Mediterranean history, but would have liked to have seen a little bit more about how the Jews fit in; in O'Shea's narrative they seem to be little more than unwitting victims/players in the big boys' games, with occasional reference to great Jewish thinkers thrown in.
I could have done without the modern-day references. I picked up the book because of its subject matter and because of my interest in the history of the region. The sudden shifts to descriptions of motor highways and concrete buildings actually took me out of the narrative and disrupted the flow of the stories for me.
October 3, 2011
It was a bit of a difficult read because there are so many people and places but I was simply fascinated. It will be one of the books that I will read again and again. If you've ever been interested in the genesis of the conflict between Christians and Muslims, this book is for you. Puts it all in perspective and makes you ponder a bit about how different the world would be if Charles Martel had not defeated the Muslim invaders in 745.
April 16, 2014
Wonderfully written. Stephen O'Shea's enthusiasm for his subject is catching. He has packed his Medieval Mediterranean compendium with a sweeping array of details. From early post antiquity to the beginnings of the renaissance O'Shea gives a fine account of both the major players and events that shaped this fascinating and vital period. I was especially interested in his account, albeit cursory, of the beginnings of Islam and it's early struggels with the "West". A fun and fascinating read.
November 9, 2014
A balanced, well-researched (including accounts of visits made to several of the historical sites where the main events of this period took place) and thought-provoking study of how two worlds have been colliding - or, in many cases, cooperating and living one with the other - since a new religion was created out of the first two main monotheist systems of belief. A great basis to help understand several of those conflicts still tearing the craddle of Western civilization.
October 24, 2014
Compact and highly readable history of the flow and ebb of Christianity and Islam around the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages. Reads better when discussing the interfaith convivencia that took place in Al-Andalus and various other polyglot locations, but the descriptions of battle certainly hold up, too.
November 11, 2008
O'Shea is one of my best buds, and this is arguably his best book. He covers much ground in a small space, but his trenchant sketches make this a magnificent narrative of this complex & relevant subject.
February 9, 2009
A very interesting and informative book but not an easy read. You had to go back and re-read some stuff. Lots of useful geographical information. Some of his Arabic translations are not entirely accurate.
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