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

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

by James Reston Jr.
Defenders of the Faith: Christianity and Islam Battle for the Soul of Europe, 1520-1536

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

by James Reston Jr.

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Overview

A bestselling historian recounts the epic clash that ended the Renaissance and pushed Islam to the gates of Vienna

In Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston, Jr., brought two epochal events in the struggle between Islam and Christendom to readers eager to understand the roots of the present-day conflict. With his unwavering eye for detail, Reston now weaves a captivating narrative that examines a pivotal period in that centuries- long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This saga of colliding worlds is propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns-the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent-and is supported by a wide range of larger-than-life characters, who lend this meticulously researched history a novel's worth of suspense and brio.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780143117599
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 07/27/2010
Pages: 432
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

James Reston, Jr., is the author of thirteen books, including Warriors of God, The Last Apocalypse, and Galileo: A Life. He has written articles for The New Yorker, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Time, Rolling Stone, and many other publications; three plays; and the scripts for three Frontline documentaries. He lives with his family in the suburbs of Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Foreword xix

Act 1 The Die is Cast

1 An Emperor Arrives in Europe 3

2 The Sword of Osman 9

3 Son of Satan 18

4 A Field of Fool's Gold 29

5 Let It Be Done! 39

6 The Sultan of Love and War 43

Act 2 Horsetails and Worms

7 A Diet of Worms 53

8 The Shadow of God Spreads Northward 69

9 Henry's Harangue 76

10 The Blood Sport of Kings and Popes 81

Act 3 Ancestral Aspirations

11 Holy Smoke 91

12 The Nest of Christian Vipers 97

13 In the Truest Sense 106

14 In the Extremity of His Affliction 117

Act 4 The Capture of a King

15 The Great Plan 123

16 The Last Battle in the Age of Chivalry 132

17 My Honor and My Life 141

18 I Am King Once Again! 152

Act 5 More Was Lost at Mohács

19 The Golden-Grilled Window 165

20 The Highway of Holy Struggle 173

21 Squabbling at Spires 178

22 The Game Pack of Jihad 186

23 The Sow and Her Piglet 195

Act 6 The Sack of Rome

24 Alas, Poor Italy 203

25 Setting the Stage 212

26 Pay! Pay! 221

27 Rabble at Porta San Spirito 229

Act 7 The End of the Renaissance

28 Single Combat 243

29 Showdown at Blackfriars 249

30 More Than Table Talk 258

31 His Mouth Rains Pearls 269

Act 8 The Gates of Vienna

32 The Banks of the Rhine River 279

33 Coronation in Fat City 290

34 The Creed of Protest 299

35 Ceremony of Amnesia 308

Act 9 Last Gasp in Europe

36 Two Wives 317

37 Futile Diplomacy 323

38 Stuck at Güns 328

39 The Pomposity of Ibrahim Pasha 340

Act 10 The Natural Enemy

40 Two Iraqs 353

41 Charles and the Barbary Sea Dogs 359

42 Tunis: The Last Crusade 364

43 Baghdad, Abode of Peace 372

44 The Abrupt End of a Great Friendship 378

Epilogue 382

Acknowledgments 390

Selected Bibliography 393

Index 398

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