Defenders of the Faith
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With the publication of Defenders of the Faith in 2009, James Reston, Jr. completes his character-driven historical quintet of seminal events in medieval history from 1000 A.D. to 1632 A.D. The quintet covers the millennial year of 1000 A.D., the Third Crusade 1187-1192 A.D., the conflict between Christianity and Islam in the Spain of Christopher Columbus, 1492 A.D., the Ottoman assault on the gates of Vienna by Suleyman the Magnificent in 1529 and 1532, and Galileo’s incredible life through the discovery of the telescope to his epic clash with the Catholic Church on the issue of science vs. faith, including his Inquisitional trial in 1632. The books have enjoyed a large international audience, published in as many as thirteen languages. The Turkish edition of Defenders of the Faith has also been published.
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"Fast paced and engaging. This is excellent reading." --Library Journal
"James Reston, Jr. has written a readable, enjoyable and professional popular history of a crucial era of Muslim-Christian conflict... [He] is a skilled and highly experienced professional writer who here focuses on the tremendous clash between the Catholic Christian European and Muslim worlds in the 16th century. The struggle was embodied in the titanic figures of Suleyman the Magnificent who ruled for almost half a century as the greatest of Ottoman Muslim caliphs, and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who ruled more of Europe than anyone except Napolean and Hitler ever managed... The obvious relevance of this book is the 21st century challenge to the West of radical Islam. But the clash of enormous 'super' or even 'hyper' power systems that Mr. Reston describes is more reminiscent of the first quarter century of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States... fascinating echoes with modern conflicts and strategic dilemmas." --Washington Times
"In this vibrant piece of intellectual history, Reston completes the saga of the relationship between East and West he began with Warriors of God. Combining a historian's attention to detail and a novelist's narrative flair, Reston focuses on the period when the Ottoman Empire came within a hair's breath of conquering Europe....By examining this short but crucial span of years, Reston not only brings to life two "Olympian" figures who believed they were carrying out the will of God; he also offers a lucid window onto Renaissance Europe and the foundations of contemporary debates between the West and Islam." --Publisher's Weekly, March 30, 2009
"(Reston) imposes narrative clarity on a kaleidoscopic array of historical events......He enlivens his chosen principals' movements on the political and religious chessboard and evaluates how they worked out......Given the disunity of the Christian monarchs, readers wondering why Suleyman did not prevail may depend on Reston's interesting display of fact, description, and narrative to elucidate a pivotal point in history." --Booklist
It has been published in Italian, Turkish and Arabic.
The book can be found on Amazon.
"James Reston, Jr. has written a readable, enjoyable and professional popular history of a crucial era of Muslim-Christian conflict... [He] is a skilled and highly experienced professional writer who here focuses on the tremendous clash between the Catholic Christian European and Muslim worlds in the 16th century. The struggle was embodied in the titanic figures of Suleyman the Magnificent who ruled for almost half a century as the greatest of Ottoman Muslim caliphs, and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who ruled more of Europe than anyone except Napolean and Hitler ever managed... The obvious relevance of this book is the 21st century challenge to the West of radical Islam. But the clash of enormous 'super' or even 'hyper' power systems that Mr. Reston describes is more reminiscent of the first quarter century of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States... fascinating echoes with modern conflicts and strategic dilemmas." --Washington Times
"In this vibrant piece of intellectual history, Reston completes the saga of the relationship between East and West he began with Warriors of God. Combining a historian's attention to detail and a novelist's narrative flair, Reston focuses on the period when the Ottoman Empire came within a hair's breath of conquering Europe....By examining this short but crucial span of years, Reston not only brings to life two "Olympian" figures who believed they were carrying out the will of God; he also offers a lucid window onto Renaissance Europe and the foundations of contemporary debates between the West and Islam." --Publisher's Weekly, March 30, 2009
"(Reston) imposes narrative clarity on a kaleidoscopic array of historical events......He enlivens his chosen principals' movements on the political and religious chessboard and evaluates how they worked out......Given the disunity of the Christian monarchs, readers wondering why Suleyman did not prevail may depend on Reston's interesting display of fact, description, and narrative to elucidate a pivotal point in history." --Booklist
It has been published in Italian, Turkish and Arabic.
The book can be found on Amazon.