Read Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750

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

Noel Malcolm

4.9/5 (34872 ratings)

Description:From the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the eighteenth 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 towards 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 sixteenth century, especially, when Ottoman territorial expansion was rapid and Ottoman institutions seemed particularly robust, there was even open admiration.In this path-breaking book 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. Useful Enemies shows how the concept of 'oriental despotism' began as an attempt to turn the tables on a very positive analysis of Ottoman state power, and how, as it developed, it interacted with Western debates about monarchy and government. Noel Malcolm also shows how a negative portrayal of Islam as a religion devised for political purposes was assimilated by radical writers, who extended the criticism to all religions, including Christianity itself.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. Noel Malcolm shows how these ideas became intertwined with internal Western debates about power, religion, society, and war. Discussions of Islam and the Ottoman Empire were thus bound up with mainstream thinking in the West on a wide range of important topics. These Eastern enemies were not just there to be denounced. They were there to be made use of, in arguments which contributed significantly to the development of Western political thought.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750. To get started finding Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: —

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: —

Release: —

ISBN: 0198830130

Description: From the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the eighteenth 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 towards 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 sixteenth century, especially, when Ottoman territorial expansion was rapid and Ottoman institutions seemed particularly robust, there was even open admiration.In this path-breaking book 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. Useful Enemies shows how the concept of 'oriental despotism' began as an attempt to turn the tables on a very positive analysis of Ottoman state power, and how, as it developed, it interacted with Western debates about monarchy and government. Noel Malcolm also shows how a negative portrayal of Islam as a religion devised for political purposes was assimilated by radical writers, who extended the criticism to all religions, including Christianity itself.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. Noel Malcolm shows how these ideas became intertwined with internal Western debates about power, religion, society, and war. Discussions of Islam and the Ottoman Empire were thus bound up with mainstream thinking in the West on a wide range of important topics. These Eastern enemies were not just there to be denounced. They were there to be made use of, in arguments which contributed significantly to the development of Western political thought.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750. To get started finding Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Special Offer | $0.00

Special Offer! | $0.00

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

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

More Books

Bosnia: A Short History

Bosnia: A Short History

Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World

Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World

Kosovo: A Short History – An Essential Chronicle of the Balkans, Ethnic Tensions, and Political Independence

Kosovo: A Short History – An Essential Chronicle of the Balkans, Ethnic Tensions, and Political Independence

Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the History of the Albanians

Rebels, Believers, Survivors: Studies in the History of the Albanians

Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750

Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750

Aspects of Hobbes

Aspects of Hobbes

The Origins of English Nonsense

The Origins of English Nonsense

George Enescu: His Life and Music

George Enescu: His Life and Music

Response to Noel Malcolm's Book: Kosovo. a Short History (Collection of Works)

Response to Noel Malcolm's Book: Kosovo. a Short History (Collection of Works)