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A review by msgtdameron
Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World by Noel Malcolm
3.0
If you are a real affectionate of Ottoman in the Balkans history from 1500 until the 1600's, this is a great read. If not, well...
This is a great micro - history of The Bardis family. Their actions bleed into the general history of the region from Albania and Dubrovnik across to Istanbul, up to Moldavia, and down the Peloponnese. This family had priests, corsairs, friars, rouges, diplomats, linguists and any other specialty jobs that needed doing for Venice, Istanbul, Moravia, The Pope, Spain, The Hapsburg's, Russia, and England. This family was very good at being invaluable to those in power. And because they were invaluable this family was part of most every major action of all the great powers. Making the macro - history very enjoyable. it's the Micro - history that makes the work bog down and thus the three stars. The in depth on each family member can get tedious as the work progresses.
If you are an aspiring author looking for a unique local and time period for a mercenary, murder mystery, diplomatic story this book will be extremely useful for getting the facts right in your historical fiction. Well documented with meticulous foot notes. This time period and the exotic local could get you on the N.Y. Times Best Seller List.
This is a great micro - history of The Bardis family. Their actions bleed into the general history of the region from Albania and Dubrovnik across to Istanbul, up to Moldavia, and down the Peloponnese. This family had priests, corsairs, friars, rouges, diplomats, linguists and any other specialty jobs that needed doing for Venice, Istanbul, Moravia, The Pope, Spain, The Hapsburg's, Russia, and England. This family was very good at being invaluable to those in power. And because they were invaluable this family was part of most every major action of all the great powers. Making the macro - history very enjoyable. it's the Micro - history that makes the work bog down and thus the three stars. The in depth on each family member can get tedious as the work progresses.
If you are an aspiring author looking for a unique local and time period for a mercenary, murder mystery, diplomatic story this book will be extremely useful for getting the facts right in your historical fiction. Well documented with meticulous foot notes. This time period and the exotic local could get you on the N.Y. Times Best Seller List.