In his Warriors of God and Dogs of God ; James Reston; limned two epochal conflicts between Islam and Christendom. Here he examines the ultimate battle in that centuries-long war; which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This drama was propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Though they represented two colliding worlds; they were remarkably similar. Each was a poet and cultured cosmopolitan; each was the most powerful man on his continent; each was called "Defender of the Faith"; and each faced strident religious rebellion in his domain. Charles was beset by the "heresy" of Martin Luther and his fervid adherents; even while tensions between him and the pope threatened to boil over; and the upstart French king Francis I harried Charles's realm by land and sea. Suleyman was hardly more comfortable on his throne. He had earned his crown by avoiding the grim Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide. Shiites in the East were fighting off the Sunni Turks' cruel repression of their "heresy." The ferocity and skill of Suleyman's Janissaries had expanded the Ottoman Empire to its greatest extent ever; but these slave soldiers became rebellious when foreign wars did not engage them. With Europe newly hobbled and the Turks suffused with restless vigor; the stage was set for a drama that unfolded from Hungary to Rhodes and ultimately to Vienna itself; which both sides thought the Turks could win. If that happened; it was generally agreed that Europe would become Muslim as far west as the Rhine. During these same years; Europe was roiled by constant internal tumult that saw; among other spectacles; the Diet of Worms; the Sack of Rome; and an actual wrestling match between the English and French monarchs in which Henry VIII's pride was badly hurt. Would-could-this fractious continent be united to repulse a fearsome enemy?
#175520 in Books 2007-07-03 2007-07-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.14 x .79 x 7.38l; 1.09 #File Name: 1592576486336 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Only Algebra Book That You NeedBy Zachariah Atteberry; CCBCI did not take even regular algebra in high school while some people was taking college level algebra or higher maths so I was embarrassed and did feel like an idiot. So learning this was a seemingly tough task. But this book helped me to understand math on a higher level than I thought I could comprehend. I really need to refresh on algebra equations prior to entering college which this book was able to do. I hit this book up after studying a pre-algebra book. Teaching yourself algebra sounds like a daunting task but I succeeded and you can too. This book met my expectations. I was taking practice exams online and offline and discovered something amazing. I went from knowing nothing about algebra to knowing about 95% of what I went through in the book. If I had to recommend a math book for this type of study; this is it.67 of 67 people found the following review helpful. Well worth the moneyBy D. Frank; FNPI recently went back to college and am taking Algebra online. It has been many years; so I bought this book and "Algebra for Dummies." While they are both helpful; I found this book to work better. The explanations are simpler and easier to follow. While there are not a vast number of practice questions; there are enough. It is not a workbook; or meant to be one. There are plenty of problems that are clearly worked through for you. So; it is easy to see what you should do and why. If you are the student; or helping one get through basic Algebra... invest in this book. You will be happy you did.9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Very helpfulBy H. KoepfgenI just recently went back to college and needed a refresher on the basics of algebra. I wouldn't get very far in my finite class without having a good algebra foundation so I bought this book to bring me up to speed. I have to say; I credit this book with me getting a B on my first test! If I hadnt bought I'm sure I would have bombed. I took one star off just because I wish it went a little more advanced with some of the sections; my textbook does a terrible job explaining things and I constantly flip back to this book as a reference.If you're taking high school algebra or college algebra then I highly recommend this book. It really does do a great job of simplifying things. If you're taking a higher level math like I am I still recommend it if you need a good refresher on the basics.
