In Empires of the Sea and City of Fortune; New York Times bestselling author Roger Crowley established himself as our generation’s preeminent historian of the great European seafaring empires; and the go-to author for post-Crusade clashes of East and West. Now; in Conquerors; Crowley gives us the epic story of the emergence of Portugal; a small; poor nation that enjoyed a century of maritime supremacy thanks to the daring and navigational skill of its explorers—a tactical advantage no other country could match. Portugal’s discovery of a sea route to India; campaign of imperial conquest over Muslim rulers; and domination of the spice trade would forever disrupt the Mediterranean and build the first global economy. Crowley relies on letters and eyewitness testimony to tell the story of tiny Portugal’s rapid and breathtaking rise to power. Conquerors reveals the Império Português in all of its splendor and ferocity; bringing to life the personalities of the enterprising and fanatical house of Aviz. Figures such as King Manuel “the Fortunate;†João II “the Perfect Prince;†marauding governor Afonso de Albuquerque; and explorer Vasco da Gama juggled their private ambitions and the public aims of the empire; often suffering astonishing losses in pursuit of a global fortune. Also central to the story of Portugal’s ascent was its drive to eradicate Islamic culture and establish a Christian empire in the Indian Ocean. Portuguese explorers pushed deep into the African continent in search of the mythical Christian king Prester John; and they ruthlessly besieged Indian port cities in their attempts to monopolize trade. The discovery of a route to India around the horn of Africa was not only a brilliant breakthrough in navigation but heralded a complete upset of the world order. For the next century; no European empire was more ambitious; no rulers more rapacious than the kings of Portugal. In the process they created the first long-range maritime empire and set in motion the forces of globalization that now shape our world. At Crowley’s hand; the complete story of the Portuguese empire and the human cost of its ambition can finally be told.Praise for Conquerors “Excellent . . . Crowley’s interpretations are nuanced and fair.â€â€”The Christian Science Monitor “In a riveting narrative; Crowley chronicles Portugal's horrifically violent trajectory from ‘impoverished; marginal’ nation to European power; vying with Spain and Venice to dominate the spice trade.â€â€”Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Brings to life the Portuguese explorers . . . perfect for anyone who likes a high seas tale.â€â€”Publishers Weekly “Readers of Crowley’s previous books will not be disappointed by this exciting tale of sea battles; land campaigns and shipwrecks. . . . Crowley makes a good case for reclaiming Portugal’s significance as forger of the first global empire.â€â€”The Daily Telegraph “Crowley has shown a rare gift for combining compelling narrative with lightly worn academic thoroughness as well as for balancing the human with the geopolitical—qualities on display here. The story he has to tell may be a thrilling one but not every historian could tell it so thrillingly.â€â€”Michael Prodger; Financial Times “A fast-moving and highly readable narrative . . . [Crowley’s] detailed reconstruction of events is based on a close reading of the works of the chroniclers; notably Barros and Correa; whose accounts were written in the tradition of the chronicles of chivalry.â€â€”History Today
#661661 in Books Aaron J Klein 2007-01-09 2007-01-09Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .80 x 5.20l; .70 #File Name: 0812974638288 pagesStriking Back The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel s Deadly Response
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A well written easy to understand account of the first hostage crisis that unfolded in real time and the response to the horror.By panda princesswe all watched it ... we were all horrified by the Munich games massacre. we saw it all unfold and could see the flaws in the German/Bavarian governments' mishandling of the event. i must insert here however; that; the event did produce; a later event in Germany by spurring that government to establish an excellent hostage crisis response unit and other countries established similar units based on the German model. while many governments may have thought about establishing specialty response units that particular type of police response was at the very least in its infancy. no one had SWAT teams as such established; hostage responses were not standardized in any jurisdiction.this book does not dwell on the Munich event except to present the event succinctly but it does present both sides of the resulting conflict. if you read any book about this tragedy and how it radically changed police response to hostage situations; high profile or not; this is the one to read as you will learn the underlying tensions and reasons for the entire situation.while watching this tragedy unfold; we all knew that the outcome was not going to be the happy ending that a book of fiction would serve up; we knew this was too serious and too intense to end well and clearly saw the flaws in the response to the crisis. we remarked at the time ... why are the television news crews showing this in real time? don't they understand that while it was a huge news event; they were providing exactly the information needed by the perpetrators and it was easy to see that nothing the police were going to try was going to be kept secret from the men who committed this heinousness. so ... we now have trained hostage negotiators; and rapid highly trained police response teams specifically trained for these situations. how long we will have them given congressional constipation regarding all federal funding is one of the questions we can only hope is well thought out and well handled. this can and has happened elsewhere; even here in the USA; albeit not on such a grand stage; it is happening in other countries on a regular basis (ie; terroristic kidnappings in certain southern border towns). unfortunately; not all nations learned a lesson from this event and we can only hope that the US government insists on retaining these specialized police units as well as other rapid response teams specialized for other crimes.all in all; the book is quite balanced and reads much like a novel which should make it an easy if unpleasant read for some; but it is an important book for anyone interested in not only the world horror of such an event; but also in various nations' response within their own policing or military agencies.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The reality behind the scenesBy tleeminniemeI vividly remember the '72 Olympics and the massacre. Once again; what you learned from the TV news isn't even half the story. Well written. The book covers both the triumphs and the blunders made along the way both before and after the massacre.Munich; trying to erase its Nazi image; really tried to "stay out of the whole affair" . That made it very difficult for the Israelis to find out the who and what behind the event. Very absorbing read. Highly recommend it.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. great readBy eschercatVery interesting finding out all the different levels on intelligence groups in Israel and what the purpose of each one is. Fascinating read. Didn't want to put it down. Would definitely recommend this book!
