Defenders of the Faith: Christianity and Islam Battle for the Soul of Europe, 1520-1536

A bestselling historian recounts the epic clash that ended the Renaissance and pushed Islam to the gates of Vienna

In Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston, Jr., brought two epochal events in the struggle between Islam and Christendom to readers eager to understand the roots of the present-day conflict. With his unwavering eye for detail, Reston now weaves a captivating narrative that examines a pivotal period in that centuries- long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This saga of colliding worlds is propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns-the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent-and is supported by a wide range of larger-than-life characters, who lend this meticulously researched history a novel's worth of suspense and brio.

• Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors
• Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade
• The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europe
• Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe
• Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World
• 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West
• Luther's Fortress: Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege
• Galileo: A Life
• Emperor: A New Life of Charles V
• City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas