Useful Enemies

Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750

From the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the 18th century, many Western European writers viewed the Ottoman Empire with almost obsessive interest. Typically they reacted to it with fear and distrust; and such feelings were reinforced by the deep hostility of Western Christendom toward Islam. Yet there was also much curiosity about the social and political system on which the huge power of the sultans was based. In the 16th century, especially, when Ottoman territorial expansion was rapid and Ottoman institutions seemed particularly robust, there was even open admiration.

In this path-breaking audiobook, Noel Malcolm ranges through these vital centuries of East-West interaction, studying all the ways in which thinkers in the West interpreted the Ottoman Empire as a political phenomenon - and Islam as a political religion. Examining the works of many famous thinkers (including Machiavelli, Bodin, and Montesquieu) and many less well-known ones, Useful Enemies illuminates the long-term development of Western ideas about the Ottomans and about Islam. Malcolm shows how these ideas became intertwined with internal Western debates about power, religion, society, and war.

©2019 Noel Malcolm (P)2020 Tantor

Excellent intellectual history - great combo of history and philosophy

Anyone interested in Medieval and Early Modern European and/or Ottoman history should not skip this work. It is also helpful for understanding modern Turkey and its relation to the West. It should certainly be read by all Armenians and Greeks with irredentist aspirations (so as to facilitate such aspirations).

Meticulously Researched

Meticulously researched book into how Europe viewed the Ottoman Empire at its peak. Comprehensive in nature. Highly recommended.