
God's Shadow
Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World
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Narrated by:
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James Cameron Stewart
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By:
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Alan Mikhail
About this listen
Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. At the height of their authority in the 16th century, the Ottomans controlled more territory and ruled over more people than any world power, forcing Europeans out of the Mediterranean and to the New World.
Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
Mikhail's game-changing account uses Selim's life to upend prevailing shibboleths about Islamic history and jingoistic "rise of the West" theories that have held sway for decades. Whether recasting Christopher Columbus's voyages to the "Americas" as a bumbling attempt to slay Muslims or showing how the Ottomans allowed slaves to become the elite of society while Christian states at the very same time waged the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, God's Shadow radically reshapes our understanding of the importance of Selim's Ottoman Empire in the history of the modern world.
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Took me back to Latin class and the origin of word
- By tony harris on 05-19-20
By: Philip Matyszak
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The Scythians
- Nomad Warriors of the Steppe
- By: Barry Cunliffe
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The Scythians were nomadic horsemen who ranged wide across the grasslands of the Asian steppe from the Altai mountains in the east to the Great Hungarian Plain in the first millennium BC. Their steppe homeland bordered on a number of sedentary states to the south and there were, inevitably, numerous interactions between the nomads and their neighbours. The Scythians fought the Persians on a number of occasions, in one battle killing their king and on another occasion driving the invading army of Darius the Great from the steppe.
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Well researched but narrator is terrible
- By John M. on 01-17-21
By: Barry Cunliffe
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Sons of the Waves
- The Common Seaman in the Heroic Age of Sail
- By: Stephen Taylor
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now, Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs.
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Navy Guy Recommends this Title
- By Lexcast on 06-17-20
By: Stephen Taylor
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The Last Crusade
- The Epic Voyages of Vasco da Gama
- By: Nigel Cliff
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Historian Nigel Cliff delivers a sweeping, radical reinterpretation of Vasco da Gama's pioneering voyages, revealing their significance as a decisive turning point in the struggle between Christianity and Islam. Perfect for fans of Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Galileo's Daughter, and Atlantic, this first-ever complete account of da Gama's voyages includes new information from the recently discovered diaries of his sailors and an extraordinary series of letters between da Gama and the Zamorin, a king of modern-day Kerala, India.
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Way too PC
- By Danvil on 02-08-21
By: Nigel Cliff
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The Mongol Storm
- Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East
- By: Nicholas Morton
- Narrated by: Nick Biadon
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, the Crusades have been central to the story of the medieval Near East, but these religious wars are only part of the region's complex history. As The Mongol Storm reveals, during the same era the Near East was utterly remade by another series of wars: the Mongol invasions. In a single generation, the Mongols conquered vast swaths of the Near East and upended the region's geopolitics. This is the definitive history of the Mongol assault on the Near East and its enduring global consequences.
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History explained and experienced
- By Bob H on 03-20-25
By: Nicholas Morton
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Julius Caesar
- By: Philip Freeman
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 2,000 years after his death, Julius Caesar remains one of the great figures of history. He shaped Rome for generations, and his name became a synonym for "emperor" - not only in Rome but as far away as Germany and Russia. He is best known as the general who defeated the Gauls and doubled the size of Rome's territories. But, as Philip Freeman describes in this fascinating new biography, Caesar was also a brilliant orator, an accomplished writer, a skilled politician, and much more.
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Not very good...
- By FarleyFarley on 10-22-19
By: Philip Freeman
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Empires of the Sea
- The Contest for the Center of the World
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Empires of the Sea tells the story of the 50-year world war between Islam and Christianity for the Mediterranean: one of the fiercest and most influential contests in European history. It traces events from the appearance on the world stage of Suleiman the Magnificent through "the years of devastation" when it seemed possible that Islam might master the whole sea, to the final brief flourishing of a united Christendom in 1571.
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Brilliant detail, exciting story
- By Tad Davis on 08-17-08
By: Roger Crowley
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Lutzen
- Great Battles
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) was Europe's most destructive conflict prior to the two world wars. Two of European history's greatest generals faced each other at Lutzen in November 1632, midway through this terrible war. This book is the first to combine analysis of the battle itself with an assessment of its cultural, political, and military legacy, and the first to incorporate recent archaeological research within a reappraisal of the events and their significance.
By: Peter H. Wilson
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Bismarck
- The Man and the Statesman
- By: A.J.P. Taylor
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In this compelling biography, historian A. J. P. Taylor reevaluates Bismarck's motives and methods, focusing on the chancellor's rise to power in the 1860s and his removal from office in 1890.
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Good, but read a primer first
- By Paolo Menuez on 06-12-18
By: A.J.P. Taylor
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The Makers of Scotland
- Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings
- By: Tim Clarkson
- Narrated by: David Vickery
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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During the first millennium AD the most northerly part of Britain evolved into the country known today as Scotland. The transition was a long process of social and political change driven by the ambitions of powerful warlords. At first these men were tribal chiefs, Roman generals, or rulers of small kingdoms.
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Good book easy to listen to
- By Jennifer S on 08-14-24
By: Tim Clarkson
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Ghost on the Throne
- The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire
- By: James S. Romm
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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When Alexander the Great died at the age of 32, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea in the west all the way to modern-day India in the east. In an unusual compromise, his two heirs - a mentally damaged half brother, Philip III, and an infant son, Alexander IV, born after his death - were jointly granted the kingship. But six of Alexander's Macedonian generals, spurred by their own thirst for power and the legend that Alexander bequeathed his rule "to the strongest," fought to gain supremacy.
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ends a bit short
- By RIR on 06-14-21
By: James S. Romm
What listeners say about God's Shadow
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- Brian Dowd
- 09-28-20
A fascinating book
I learned a lot from this book easy-to-follow and a good story. This makes me look at European and US history in a new light.
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- Terence Lowery
- 12-30-20
A profound perspective of world history .
Some stories just grab your imagination and take it on a journey of profound experiential vision. This writing and narration has been such an illumination for me. Thank you!
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- Omar Najia
- 02-02-23
Ignore the holier than thou shrieks
Fascinating and mind opening. If you like getting a single perspective of history written by the victors, this book is NOT for you. If you think that the Muslims were evil and Christians good, again just read todays main stream media. But if you looking for an interesting perspective, something to challenge that brain and beliefs of yours, a veil lifting book, this is for you!
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- Anonymous User
- 04-19-22
Spectacular
Wonderful read! Deeply appreciated the global historical context and its' correlation to current ideologies.
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- Juliet Starrett
- 08-31-22
Brilliant
I loved this book. I can’t recommend it enough. 10/10. We’ve talked about it non stop at our home.
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- Red Redington
- 07-31-24
Real history brought to life
I have over 2,200 books in my audible library and this is in the 1% of it. I learned so much about the modern world from the 15th century. The author needs to keep on coming with books. The writing style is beautiful.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-21-21
A must read for any history addict
Totally addictive and fully captivating from beginning to end… Full of mind blowing facts and thought provoking information. Beautifully put together and soothingly read…
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2 people found this helpful
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- E. Kysela
- 08-24-20
Well narrated
God’s Shadow is an informative book countervailing the lies of right wing islamophobes. The book illustrates the connections of history from the 16th century until today.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-20-24
Spectacle, strong and clear delivering of storyline based on factual evidence one can corelate to.
Best thing that stands out is how that being unbiased and providing un-altered actual context without much of western bias standed most for me.
Being from former region of Ottomons I can feel it.
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- sherin
- 09-07-20
Great History
Without understanding the history we will easily get lost in the future . this book from a credible source states the facts of important.part at the dawn of America’s history. It is informative, interesting... I highly recommend
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2 people found this helpful