THE HOUSE OF WAR: The Struggle Between Christendom and the Caliphate

1-245860

Focuses on some of the most significant clashes of arms in human history: the taking and retaking of Jerusalem and the collapse of the Crusader states; the fall of Constantinople; the sieges of Rhodes and Malta; the assault on Vienna and the 'high-water mark' of Ottoman advance into Europe; the Allied capture of Jerusalem in World War I, the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the dissolution of the sultanate and the caliphate, and the formation of modern Europe and the modern Middle East. Offers a wide, sweeping narrative, encompassing the broad historical and religious context of this period, while focussing on some of the key, pivotal sieges and battles, and on the protagonists, political and military, who determined their conclusions and their consequences. Contains 16-page plate section in color and black and white.

Contents
* Author's Note and Acknowledgements
* List of Illustrations and Maps
* Introduction
* Part One: The Battle Lines are Drawn
* Chapter One Rise of the Caliphate: Yarmouk and al-Qadisiyyah 636
* Part Two: The Contest for the Holy Land
* Chapter Two: Victory in the East: Jerusalem 1099
* Chapter Three: Disaster at the Horns: Hattin 1187
* Chapter Four: Expulsion from Eden: Acre 1291
* Part Three: Ruin of an Empire
* Chapter Five: The Walls Fail: Constantinople 1453
* Part Four: The Struggle for the Middle Sea
* Chapter Six: The Knights at Bay: Rhodes 1522
* Chapter Seven: They Shall Not Pass: Malta 1565
* Chapter Eight: 'There Was a Man Called John': Lepanto 1571
* Part Five: The Marches of Central Europe
* Chapter Nine: 'Like a Flood of Black Pitch': Vienna 1683
* Part Six: The World Remade
* Chapter Ten: He Stoops to Conquer: Jerusalem 1917
* Epilogue
* Notes
* Bibliography
* Index