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A review by jdscott50
God's Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World by Alan Mikhail
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I've had this book on my to-read shelf for quite some time. I was fascinated by the premise. That the discovery of the "New World" was predicated on Mehmed and Selin's Ottoman Empire. At one point, Selin completely cuts off Europe from trade with China. This threat, combined with the Spanish reveals of fortunes in the Reconquista, would be the genesis of Colonial Expansion. The existential threat, the fear of a Mulsim planet, is largely responsible for Western Colonizlim and expansion.
Mikhail painstakingly describes Sultan's life. From the death of Mehmed II, the Conqueror of Constantinople and one of the greatest threats to Europe dies. A power struggle between his sons ensues, teaching a young Selin that no one can be trusted. As the youngest son of the Sultan, he is sent into the far-flung realms. He makes the most of it. Skirmishes with his enemies and builds his forces. By the time he is finished, he will vanish his father's army, kill his brothers, and defeat two Muslim empires while again threatening Spanin before his untimely death. He was indeed God's Shadow on Earth.
Mikhail painstakingly describes Sultan's life. From the death of Mehmed II, the Conqueror of Constantinople and one of the greatest threats to Europe dies. A power struggle between his sons ensues, teaching a young Selin that no one can be trusted. As the youngest son of the Sultan, he is sent into the far-flung realms. He makes the most of it. Skirmishes with his enemies and builds his forces. By the time he is finished, he will vanish his father's army, kill his brothers, and defeat two Muslim empires while again threatening Spanin before his untimely death. He was indeed God's Shadow on Earth.