Simon Mayall, "The House of War: The Struggle Between Christendom and the Caliphate" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

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May 3, 2025

Simon Mayall, a former British Army soldier and a scholar of international relations, discusses the epic struggle between Christendom and the Caliphate over 1,300 years. He delves into key military confrontations, including the fall of Constantinople and the Battle of Jerusalem, revealing their profound implications for modern geopolitics. Mayall connects historical conflicts to today's Muslim-Christian relations, emphasizing the importance of understanding these narratives in shaping cultural and territorial identities.

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ANECDOTE

Mayall's Middle East Career

Simon Mayall shares his extensive Middle East experience from his British Army career and family background.
His roles included Defence Senior Adviser for the Middle East and Security Envoy to Iraq and Kurdish region.

INSIGHT

Complex Religious and Political Alliances

The conflict between Christendom and the Caliphate was complex with internal religious rivalries often more important than external wars.
Alliances crossed religious lines, such as Ottomans supporting Protestants against Catholics.

INSIGHT

Enduring Lessons from Historical Battles

Historical battles show enduring military lessons like leadership, logistics, and morale.
Ottoman centralization influenced Western Europe’s military organization and the economic motives behind wars were significant.

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A powerful new history detailing 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 new 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: The Struggle Between Christendom and the Caliphate (Bloomsbury, 2024) 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.

Simon Mayall is a former soldier in the British Army, and an acknowledged expert on the history of the Middle East, and of the Crusades. Much of his 40-year professional career was focussed on the Middle East, and he has strong family and academic interests in the region. His last appointments were as the British Government's Defence Senior Adviser for the Middle East, and the Prime Minister's Security Envoy to Iraq and the Kurdish Region.

Caleb Zakarin is editor at the New Books Network.

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