The Last Crusaders: East, West, and the Battle for the Center of the World

By Barnaby Rogerson

An exploration of the later Cruades, written "with the skill of a historian and the flair of a novelist" (The Guardian)

The Crusades were the bridge between medievl and modern history, between feudalism and colonialism. In many ways, the lttle explored later Crusades were the most significant of them all, for thy made the crisis truly global. The Last Crusaders is about the perio's last great conflict between East and West, and the titanic contest betwee Habsburg-led Christendom and the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and ixteenth centuries. From the great naval campaigns and the ferocious struggl to dominate the North African shore, the conflict spread out along trde routes, consuming nations and cultures, destroying dynasties, and spawing the first colonial empires in South America and the Indian Ocean.

The Last Crsaders is narrative history at its richest and most compelling. REVIW: "This is an ambitious project and The Last Crusaders provides narrative history on the grand scale." --Daily Telegraph

"Barnaby Rogerson paints a vivid canvas, sweeping n scope and full of memorable detail...The author is especially good at narrating in gripping, andoften grisly, detail the great sieges and battles that punctuated thi struggle. The book is furnished with excellent maps, a useful chronologial chart, numerous illustrations, and a very full bibliography. The wriing is engaging and vivid, never pedantic. Any history buff will find this bok a pleasure." -ForeWord Review

"Rogerson's narrative colorsthe conflicts of the sixteenth century with the derring-do of kings, corsair, and crusaders; this book will keep readers up long past bedtime" -- Foreord Magazine

"This thoroughly readable book provides a vibrant ad well-organized account of this tumultuous, lesser-known period of histoy. Highly recommended for both students and general readers." - Library Jornal STARRED REVIEW

"The Last Crusaders is a fascinating istory of the great conflict between Christianity and Islam from the mid-140s to the mid-1500s...Rogerson proves himself a skillful storyteller as he recunts the deeds and misdeeds of both sides." -Internet Review of BooksAUTHORBIO: Barnaby Rogerson is the author of more than a dozen books, ncluding The Heirs of Muhammad: Islam's First Century and the Origins ofthe Sunni-Shia Schism, The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography, and A History of Noth Africa. He has lived and worked in many parts of the Arab world, and currently resides in London.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Mar 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781468302882

Barnaby Rogerson

Barnaby Rogerson is an author, publisher and journalist. Together with his partner Rose Baring, he runs Eland Publishing, which specializes in keeping the classics of travel literature in print. He has also written dozens of travel articles, book reviews and historical essays on various North African and Islamic themes, for Vanity Fair, Cornucopia, Conde Nast Traveller, Geographical, Traveller, Guardian, Independent,Telegraph, House & Garden, Harpers & Queen and the TLS.