Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750
0198830130
9780198830139
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.
Best prices to buy, sell, or rent ISBN 9780198830139
Frequently Asked Questions about Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750
The price for the book starts from $17.98 on Amazon and is available from 29 sellers at the moment.
If you’re interested in selling back the Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750 book, you can always look up BookScouter for the best deal. BookScouter checks 30+ buyback vendors with a single search and gives you actual information on buyback pricing instantly.
As for the Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750 book, the best buyback offer comes from and is $ for the book in good condition.
The Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750 book is in very low demand now as the rank for the book is 2,247,435 at the moment. A rank of 1,000,000 means the last copy sold approximately a month ago.
The highest price to sell back the Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750 book within the last three months was on November 22 and it was $8.54.