Roger Crowley

Quien controla las especias, controla el mundoLas especias fueron el motor de la economía mundial en la Edad Moderna y para los europeos simbolizaban riquezas inimaginables. Exploradores españoles y portugueses compitieron por encontrar su origen hasta que, finalmente, en 1511, los portugueses alcanzaron las Molucas, las codiciadas islas de las especias, y se desato una encarnizada lucha por el control de este valioso comercio.Roger Crowley revela como esta pugna dio forma al mundo moderno. Entre 1511 y 1571, año en que el español Miguel Lopez de Legazpi funda Manila, las potencias europeas conectaron los oceanos, consiguieron asombrosos avances militares y de navegacion, construyeron vastos imperios maritimos y alumbraron el nacimiento del comercio global, todo en su afan por dominar el suministro y comercio de especias.Desde los astilleros de Sevilla hasta los confines del Pacifico, pasando por las ardientes islas volcanicas de Indonesia, el gelido circulo polar artico y las enigmaticas costas de China, esta obra nos sumerge en una epoca historica apasionante. Con vividos relatos de aventuras, naufragios y asedios, nos trasladaremos a la era de los grandes exploradores y veremos como sus viajes transformaron la economia mundial y sentaron las bases de un orden global que perduraria durante siglos.

Quien controla las especias, controla el mundo Las especias fueron el motor de la economía mundial en la Edad Moderna y para los europeos simbolizaban riquezas inimaginables. Exploradores españoles

En 1521, Solimán el Magnífico conquistó la isla de Rodas, el bastión cristiano donde residían los últimos cruzados, los caballeros hospitalarios. Pero la caída de Rodas puso en marcha una cadena de acontecimientos que llevo a una guerra total en el Medite

El apasionante asedio del último bastión cristiano en Tierra Santa. Tras la pérdida de Jerusalén en 1244, los cruzados dedicaron todas sus energías y sus recursos a la defensa del último gran bastió

La historia definitiva de la creación del primer imperio global. En 1483, un grupo de marineros portugueses erigió un pilar en un cabo de la costa de lo que hoy es Angola. Este acontecimiento represento la culminacion de decadas de arduos esfuerzos y expediciones. Los portugueses se echaron a la mar para delimitar los confines de Africa, y gracias a su gallardia y habilidad, descubrieron una ruta directa a la India e iniciaron la conquista del oceano Indico con el objetivo final de destruir el islam y tomar el control del comercio global. Los cruentos enfrentamientos entre los portugueses y los pueblos que encontraron en sus viajes, las tretas, argucias y peripecias de algunos de los mas grandes exploradores de todos los tiempos, como Vasco de Gama, Cabral o Alfonso de Albuquerque, o los majestuosos escenarios de las batallas epicas en tierra y mar entre africanos, asiaticos y europeos hacen de este libro una lectura apasionante y transportan al lector a una epoca de aventura, valor, codicia, diplomacia y espionaje. El mar sin fin es un relato fascinante, esencial y actualizado que narra, con el ritmo de una novela, como una de las naciones mas pequeñas de Europa se embarco en una de las mayores aventuras de la historia.

Constantinopla narra la historia de la caída de la capital del imperio bizantino en manos de los otomanos en 1453. Durante mil años, Constantinopla fue la ciudad por excelencia: fabulosamente rica, imperial, impresionante y cristiana. Era el tesoro mas codiciado: la Manzana Roja, que habia sobrevivido a un asedio cada cuarenta años durante un milenio, hasta que el sultan otomano Mehmet II, un joven de veintiun años hambriento de gloria, se dirigio hacia alli en abril de 1453, con un enorme ejercito, mas numeroso que las estrellas. Durante cincuenta y cinco heroicos dias, los defensores de la ciudad lucharon por tierra y mar contra los invasores, en una batalla por fe, imperio y gloria, hasta el trascendental 29 de mayo de 1453, un dia marcado a fuego en la Historia.Constantinopla, a caballo entre Asia y Europa, fue una de las ciudades mas legendarias del mundo. Fundada por Constantino el Grande y capital del Imperio romano de Oriente y luego de su heredero, el Imperio bizantino, consiguio frenar el impetu de las conquistas arabes en los inicios del islam y desde entonces se convirtio en una obsesion para los musulmanes.En el siglo xv una nueva ola de invasores islamicos golpea contra sus puertas. Son los otomanos, liderados por el joven sultan Mehmed II, un hombre que aspira a convertir el Imperio oto...

In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, despatched an invasion fleet to the island of Rhodes. This was the opening shot in an epic struggle between rival empires and faiths, and the ensuing battle for control of the Mediterranean would last sixty years. Empires of the Sea tells the story of this great contest. It is a fast-paced tale of spiralling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St John, last survivors of the crusading spirit; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria. Its brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, six years that witnessed a fight to the finish, decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta; the battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defence of southern Europe at Lepanto - one of the single most shocking days in world history that fixed the frontiers of the Mediterranean world we know today. Empires of the Sea follows Roger Crowleys first book, the widely praised Constantinople: The Last Great Siege. It is page-turning narrative history at its best - a story of extraordinary colour and incident, rich in detail, full of surprises and backed by a wealth of eyewitness accounts.

Engagingly fresh and vivid . . . The 21-year-old Mehmet [the Ottoman Sultan] emerges from this book as ruthless but innovative, irascible but versatile and, above all, indefatigable - a worthy successor to Alexander and the Roman emperors he admired as much as any Muslim hero. Malise Ruthven, Sunday TimesIn the spring of 1453, the Ottoman Turks advanced on Constantinople in pursuit of an ancient Islamic dream: capturing the thousand-year-old capital of Christian Byzantium. During the siege that followed, a small band of defenders, outnumbered ten to one, confronted the might of the Ottoman army in an epic contest fought on land, sea and underground.In this account of the 1453 siege, written in crackling prose by former Istanbul resident Roger Crowley - his first book and not, I hope, his last - we are treated to narrative history at its most enthralling. Christopher Silvester, Daily ExpressA vivid and readable account of the siege . . . [And] an excellent travellers guide to how and why Istanbul became a Muslim city. Philip Mansel, Guardian

A magisterial work of gripping history, City of Fortune tells the story of the Venetian ascent from lagoon dwellers to the greatest power in the Mediterranean - an epic five hundred year voyage that encompassed crusade and trade, plague, sea battles and colonial adventure. In Venice, the path to empire unfolded in a series of extraordinary contests - the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, the fight to the finish with Genoa and a desperate defence against the Turks. Under the lion banner of St Mark, she created an empire of ports and naval bases which funnelled the goods of the world through its wharfs. In the process the city became the richest place on earth - a brilliant mosaic fashioned from what it bought, traded, borrowed and stole. Based on first hand accounts of trade and warfare, seafaring and piracy and the places where Venetians sailed and died, City of Fortune is narrative history at its finest. Beginning on Ascension Day in the year 1000 and ending with an explosion off the coast of Greece - and the calamitous news that the Portuguese had pioneered a sea route to India - it will fascinate anyone who loves Venice and the Mediterranean world.

A rare gift . . . The story he has to tell may be a thrilling one but not every historian could tell it so thrillingly.Financial TimesMagnificently rip-roaring history . . . Bursting with colour and excitement. Dominic SandbrookAs remarkable as Columbus and the conquistador expeditions, the history of Portuguese exploration is now almost forgotten. But Portugals navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire. In an astonishing blitz of thirty years, a handful of visionary and utterly ruthless empire builders, with few resources but breathtaking ambition, attempted to seize the Indian Ocean, destroy Islam and take control of world trade.Conquerors is narrative history at its most vivid - an epic tale of navigation, trade and technology, money and religious zealotry, political diplomacy and espionage, sea battles and shipwrecks, endurance, courage and terrifying brutality. Drawing on extensive first-hand accounts, Crowley brings to life the exploits of an extraordinary band of conquerors - men such as Afonso de Albuquerque, the first European since Alexander the Great to found an Asian empire - who set in motion five hundred years of European colonisation and unleashed the forces of globalisation.

Opening with the Ottoman victory in 1453 it is a breathtaking story of military crusading Barbary pirates white slavery and the Ottoman Empire and the larger picture of the struggle between Islam

Este libro es un ensayo sobre el enfrentamiento entre la Europa cristiana, con un papel destacado de los Austrias españoles, y los Otomanos por el dominio del Mediterráneo entre 1521 y 1580, en una

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 Imperio Portugues 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, Joao 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

From a New York Times-bestselling author, a stirring account of the siege of Acre in 1291, when the last Christian stronghold fell to the Muslim army The 1291 siege of Acre was the Alamo of the Christian Crusades -- the final bloody battle for the Holy Land. After a desperate six weeks, the beleaguered citadel surrendered to the Mamluks, bringing an end to Christendoms two-hundred year adventure in the Middle East.In The Accursed Tower, Roger Crowley delivers a lively narrative of the lead-up to the siege and a vivid, blow-by-blow account of the climactic battle. Drawing on extant Arabic sources as well as untranslated Latin documents, he argues that Acre is notable for technical advances in military planning and siege warfare, and extraordinary for its individual heroism and savage slaughter. A gripping depiction of the crusader era told through its dramatic last moments, The Accursed Tower offers an essential new view on a crucial turning point in world history.Longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Nonfiction Crown

Entre los siglos x y xvi, Venecia pasó de ser un poblado de modestos comerciantes hecho de casas de madera a convertirse en una majestuosa ciudad cuya riqueza y esplendor asombraría al mundo. Los venecianos no solo forjaron un legendario imperio naval, sino que impusieron una nueva forma de ver el mundo que perdura hasta nuestros dias.Crowley dibuja una vivida imagen de un pueblo intrepido y avaricioso que crecio primero en pugna con el Imperio bizantino y luego en conflicto con el Imperio otomano, combinando la astucia comercial y diplomatica con las grandes batallasnavales para defender sus intereses. Desde la apertura de la Ruta de las especias hasta las cruzadas y el enfrentamiento entre el cristianismo y el islam, pasando por la invencion del capitalismo moderno, Venecia y su imperio naval desempeñaron un papel fundamental en los conflictos clave de su tiempo, cuyas reverberaciones todavia son palpables en la actualidad.Del autor de Imperios del mar y Constantinopla 1453El auge y caida del imperio de Venecia es una historia irresistible y Roger Crowley es su cronista perfecto, por su don impactante para la descripcion y atencion meticulosa a los detalles.The Financial TimesCrowley escribe con una atrevida agudeza que hace emerger de las paginas batallas navales y asedios.The New York TimesC...

A gripping exploration of the fall of Constantinople and its connection to the world we live in today. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 signaled a shift in history and the end of the Byzantium Empire. Roger Crowleys readable and comprehensive account of the battle between Mehmet II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th emperor of Byzantium, illuminates the period in history that was a precursor to the current conflict between the West and the Middle East. For a thousand years Constantinople was quite simply "the city": fabulously wealthy, imperial, intimidating - and Christian. Singlehandedly it blunted early Arab enthusiasm for Holy War; when a second wave of Islamic warriors swept out of the Asian steppes in the Middle Ages, Constantinople was the ultimate prize: "The Red Apple." It was a city that had always lived under threat. On average it had survived a siege every forty years for a millennium until the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmet II, twenty-one years old and hungry for glory, rode up to the walls in April 1453 with a huge army, "numberless as the stars."1453 is the taut, vivid story of this final struggle for the city, told largely through the accounts of eyewitnesses. For fifty-five days a tiny group of defenders defied the huge Ottoman army in a seesawing contest fought on land, at sea, and underground. During the course of events, the largest cannon ever built was directed against the worlds most formidable defensive system, Ottoman ships were hauled overland into the Golden Horn, and the morale of defenders was crucially undermined by unnerving portents. At the center is the contest between two inspirational leaders, Mehmed II and Constantine XI, fighting for empire and religious faith, and an astonishing finale in a few short hours on May 29, 1453 a defining moment for medieval history. 1453 is both a gripping work of narrative history and an account of the war between Christendom and Islam that still has echoes in the modern world.

In Conquerors, New York Times bestselling author Roger 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 explorersa tactical advantage no other country could match. Portugals 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 Portugals rapid and breathtaking rise to power. Conquerors reveals the Imperio Portugues 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, Joo 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 Portugals 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 Crowleys hand, the complete story of the Portuguese empire and the human cost of its ambition can finally be told.Praise for Conquerors Excellent . . . Crowleys interpretations are nuanced and fair.The Christian Science Monitor In a riveting narrative, Crowley chronicles Portugals horrifically violent trajectory from impoverished, marginal nation to European power, vying with Spain and Venice to dominate the spice trade.Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Brings to life the Portuguese explorers . . . perfect for anyone who likes a high seas tale.Publishers Weekly Readers of Crowleys previous books will not be disappointed by this exciting tale of sea battles, land campaigns and shipwrecks. . . . Crowley makes a good case for reclaiming Portugals significance as forger of the first global empire.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 geopoliticalqualities on display here. The story he has to tell may be a thrilling one but not every historian could tell it so thrillingly.Michael Prodger, Financial Times A fast-moving and highly readable narrative . . . [Crowleys] 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 c....

In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, Muslim ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, dispatched an invasion fleet to the Christian island of Rhodes. This would prove to be the opening shot in an epic struggle between rival empires and faiths for control of the Mediterranean and the center of the world.In Empires of the Sea,acclaimed historian Roger Crowley has written his most mesmerizing work to datea thrilling account of this brutal decades-long battle between Christendom and Islam for the soul of Europe, a fast-paced tale of spiraling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, The King of Evil, the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St. John, the last crusading order after the passing of the Templars; the messianic Pope Pius V; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria. This struggles brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, seven years that witnessed a fight to the finish decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta, in which a tiny band of Christian defenders defied the might of the Ottoman army; the savage battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defense of southern Europe at Lepantoone of the single most shocking days in world history. At the close of this cataclysmic naval encounter, the carnage was so great that the victors could barely sail away because of the countless corpses floating in the sea. Lepanto fixed the frontiers of the Mediterranean world that we know today.Roger Crowley conjures up a wild cast of pirates, crusaders, and religious warriors struggling for supremacy and survival in a tale of slavery and galley warfare, desperate bravery and utter brutality, technology and Inca gold. Empires of the Sea is page-turning narrative history at its besta story of extraordinary color and incident, rich in detail, full of surprises, and backed by a wealth of eyewitness accounts. It provides a crucial context for our own clash of civilizations.

The rise and fall of Venices empire is an irresistible story and [Roger] Crowley, with his rousing descriptive gifts and scholarly attention to detail, is its perfect chronicler.The Financial Times The New York Times bestselling author of Empires of the Sea charts Venices astounding five-hundred-year voyage to the pinnacle of power in an epic story that stands unrivaled for drama, intrigue, and sheer opulent majesty. City of Fortune traces the full arc of the Venetian imperial saga, from the ill-fated Fourth Crusade, which culminates in the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, to the Ottoman-Venetian War of 14991503, which sees the Ottoman Turks supplant the Venetians as the preeminent naval power in the Mediterranean. In between are three centuries of Venetian maritime dominance, during which a tiny city of lagoon dwellers grow into the richest place on earth. Drawing on firsthand accounts of pitched sea battles, skillful negotiations, and diplomatic maneuvers, Crowley paints a vivid picture of this avaricious, enterprising people and the bountiful lands that came under their dominion. From the opening of the spice routes to the clash between Christianity and Islam, Venice played a leading role in the defining conflicts of its timethe reverberations of which are still being felt today. [Crowley] writes with a racy briskness that lifts sea battles and sieges off the page.The New York Times Crowley chronicles the peak of Venices past glory with Wordsworthian sympathy, supplemented by impressive learning and infectious enthusiasm.The Wall Street Journal