Publication

2006 - Walker, New York, New York (State)

Language

English

Word Count

102,750 words, Guess

Page Count

411 pages

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number2005033290
  • LibraryThing1025659
  • Goodreads234212

Classifications

  • DDC909/.09822
  • LCCDE84 .O84 2006

Description

In a magnificent book Stephen O'Shea evokes the epochal moments of this encounter between the two imperial faiths, bringing to life the instances of conflict and coexistence that were at once the marvel and the talk of an entire world. His story lights on all shores of the Mediterranean and provides a cogent reminder of a shared history. The fall of the Christian Middle East at Yarmuk, Martel's 'wall of ice' at Poitiers, Byzantium's rout at Manzikert, all the way through to Saladin at Jerusalem, Lazar at Kosovo and the suicidal defence of Malta against the Ottomans - these and other fragments of our collective memory come alive and together as part of a huge canvas in this fresh, narrative history. For all those who care about the present day, and the continuing coexistence of these two cultures, history has never been so timely.

Description

The shared history of Christianity and Islam began, shortly after Islam emerged in the seventh century A.D., with a question: Who would inherit the world of the Mediterranean? Sprung from the same Abrahamic source, the two faiths played out what historian O'Shea calls "sibling rivalry writ very large." Their clashes on the battlefield were balanced by long periods of coexistence and mutual enrichment, and by the end of the sixteenth century the religious boundaries of the modern world were drawn. O'Shea chronicles the meetings of minds and the collisions of armies that marked 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 recounts seven pivotal battles between the forces of Christianity and Islam that shaped the Mediterranean world.--From publisher description.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • Sea of faith: the shared story of Christianity and Islam in the medieval Mediterranean worldWalker2006-01-01

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