The House of War

''A fascinating history'', Charles Moore, The Spectator A powerful history of the most significant military clashes between Islam and Christendom over the 1,300 years of the Muslim caliphate. From the taking of the holy city of Jerusalem in the 7th century AD by Caliph Umar, to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I, Christian popes, emperors and kings, and Muslim caliphs and sultans were locked in a 1300-year battle for political, military, ideological, economic and religious supremacy. In this powerful history of the era, acknowledged expert on the history of the Middle East and the Crusades Simon Mayall focuses on some of the most significant clashes of arms in human history: the taking and retaking of Jerusalem and the collapse of the Crusader states; the fall of Constantinople; the sieges of Rhodes and Malta; the assault on Vienna and the ''high-water mark'' of Ottoman advance into Europe; culminating in the Allied capture of Jerusalem in World War I, the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the dissolution of the sultanate and the caliphate, and the formation of modern Europe and the modern Middle East. The House of War offers a wide, sweeping narrative, encompassing the broad historical and religious context of this period, while focussing on some of the key, pivotal sieges and battles, and on the protagonists, political and military, who determined their conclusions and their consequences.

Product details

• Authors: Simon Mayall, Simon Mayall
• Publisher: Osprey Publishers
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 10.03.2026
• EAN: 9781472864369
• ISBN: 978-1-4728-6436-9
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Middle Ages; Islam, Europe, European History, Ottoman Empire, First World War, HISTORY / Europe / General, military history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, RELIGION / Christianity / History, HISTORY / Middle East / Turkey & Ottoman Empire, RELIGION / Islam / History, HISTORY / Military / Medieval, Christianity, Turkey, History of Religion, Medieval History, Middle Eastern history, c 1914 to c 1918 (including WW1), c 1914 to c 1918 (World War One period), Medieval warfare (predating gunpowder warfare), HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War I