Kevin B. O'Brien reviewed 'EMPIRES OF THE SEA by Roger Crowley
Review of "'EMPIRES OF THE SEA" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
For millennia the Mediterranean Sea has been the site of naval battles, and in many cases crucial battles that determined world history. Athens defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis in 480 BC was one of the most significant since the history of the West would have been very different had Persia prevailed. And in the 16th century another crucial conflict between East and West occurred, this time pitting Europe against the Ottoman empire. This started with the Ottomans driving out the remaining Crusader states in the Eastern Mediterranean located on the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. Then a key naval battle at Lepanto in 1571 inflicted a major defeat on the Ottomans (Venice and Spain combined to win this) and ended their mystique of invincibility. But the last big battles were over Malta, to which the Knights Hospitaller, driven out of Rhodes, had gone in 1530. Because this location …
For millennia the Mediterranean Sea has been the site of naval battles, and in many cases crucial battles that determined world history. Athens defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis in 480 BC was one of the most significant since the history of the West would have been very different had Persia prevailed. And in the 16th century another crucial conflict between East and West occurred, this time pitting Europe against the Ottoman empire. This started with the Ottomans driving out the remaining Crusader states in the Eastern Mediterranean located on the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. Then a key naval battle at Lepanto in 1571 inflicted a major defeat on the Ottomans (Venice and Spain combined to win this) and ended their mystique of invincibility. But the last big battles were over Malta, to which the Knights Hospitaller, driven out of Rhodes, had gone in 1530. Because this location was near Ottoman lands in North Africa, it had great strategic value. But despite major effort by the Ottomans, Malta held out and is today part of the European Community.
