Confrontation at Lepanto: Christendom Vs. Islam

By T.C.F. Hopkins

Book Overview

Like an angry lion, the Turkish menace growled at the frontiers of Europe. In 1453, the last remnant of the mighty Roman Empire was obliterated when Turkish forces overran Constantinople. Western civilization was being threatened by medieval Islam. By 1570, a huge Turkish fleet had begun to turn the Mediterranean into a Muslim lake. A year later Pope Pius V created an anti-Ottoman alliance known as the Holy League--Christendom's answer to Jihad.One morning in October 1571, Don John of Austria, commanding the fleet of the Holy League, met the Ottoman Turks in the waters at the mouth of the Gulf of Patros. The future of a despairing, fragmented Europe was about to be decided....By four o'clock that afternoon the naval battle had become a melee, and the sea had literally turned from blue to red from all the blood shed. When the smoke cleared, the Turkish fleet had been broken. In sheer numbers of casualties there has never been a more costly naval battle than Lepanto. The Crusaders lost 17 ships and 7,500 men; the Muslims lost more than 200 warships and nearly 20,000 men. For the first time in more than a century, West had defeated East. The Christians had successfully taken the offensive. Lepanto was one of the greatest turning points in history, though the centuries to come would see many more battles in the continuing conflict between Christianity and Islam. """Confrontation at Lepanto "is a fascinating account of that decisive battle on a very human level. Drawing on meticulous research, the author brings to life personalities, tactics, and details, making the narrative as fascinating and compelling as a novel. The result is a book whose lessons resonate today. "

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765305380
• ISBN13: 9780765305381
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An Introduction to a Key Battle in Muslim/Western Relations

The time is ripe for books retelling the history of the poor relations between the Muslim world and the West. Confrontation at Lepanto retells a key battle in that conflict. In 1570, the Ottoman Empire amassed a huge fleet with one goal in mind - total domination of the Mediterranian Sea. The fleet raided European shipping, and their corsairs especially drew the ire of the Venetians, whose economic stability was dependant upon naval trade with the other European nations. All of Europe knew something had to be done, but it wasn't until the Turks sacked Famagusta (and broke their agreement with the Venetians by slaughtering the survivors and torturing the commander of the forces there) that the European nations started to band together. They reformed the Holy League to meet the Muslim forces and put an end to their designs on the Mediterranian. But these new Crusaders were far from united. Disagreements over strategy almost doomed the European cause to failure, until the Don Juan de Austria, commander of the Holy League navy, ordered a full-out assault on the Ottoman navy at Lepanto. It was clear to both sides as the battle started that the winner would dominate Mediterranian trade for decades to come. Hopkins avoids the "holy war" aspects of Lepanto, while still remaining faithful to the religious motivations on both sides. Instead, the book focuses on social, political, and especially economic motivations for the conflict on both sides. We read of the intrigue in European courts, as monarchs posture to turn success AND failure to their advantage. We see the individual personalities involved in the battle, from the commander Don Juan de Austria and Giannandrea Doria to a future author named Miguel Cervantes. The book is an excellent overview of the battle. That said, I ended up with a lot of questions that I wish had been covered, even in an introductory work. Hopkins mentions at one point that Cosimo de Medici was persuaded by the Pope to sponsor an order of knights for those who defended Christians at sea, but the name of that order is never given (it's the Order of St. Stephen). And I thought that the religious aspects of the fight against the Turks were not given the attention that they deserve. But Confrontation at Lepanto does provide a quality introductory work that leaves room for further reading and research.

A Little Known but Very Decisive Battle

The extremely rapid growth of the Islamic religion through the middle east, across Africa, and east towards China came about mostly through military conquest. The Muslim also attempted to convert the Europeans. At two significant battles, now viewed as pivotal Islam armies. The first turning point came in France. After conquering what is now Spain the muslim armies attempted to conquer France. Charles Martel had forseen the danger of the muslim army and had trained for the battle for some years. At the Battle of Tours (732) Charles out generaled Abd er Rahman who made several classic mistakes. The second is the battle described in this book the third Battle of Lepanto (1571). It was a huge battle, about 80,000 men on each side with 400+ ships, mostly galleys but with 6 galleasses on the Christian side which did a disproportionate share of the damage to the muslim vessels. This book dies an excellent job of describing the leadup to the battle, the battle itself, and its aftermath.