Mikhail, Alan Gottes Schatten. Sultan Selim und die Geburt der modernen Welt

Around 1500, the Ottoman Empire was the most powerful empire in the world, whose territory almost tripled in size under Sultan Selim. In his book, the American historian Alan Mikhail takes a consistent look at the beginning of the modern era from the perspective of this empire and this ruler. Based on previously neglected sources, he paints a completely new picture of this key epoch: without the Ottomans, the Europeans would not have conquered America, there would have been no Reformation and no modernity.

Selim I "the Strict" (1470-1520), Ottoman sultan and caliph of all believers, lived in a world in upheaval. According to popular opinion, the conquest of America by the Spanish marked the beginning of the "rise of the West", and the Reformation overcame medieval ways of thinking. However, the actual driving force behind these changes has so far been ignored: It was the westward advance of the Ottoman Empire that forced Europeans, for their part, further west into a New World, where they continued their old crusade against Islam. It was no coincidence that a schism occurred in Europe when Sultan Selim reformed Sunni Islam and the rift between Sunnis and Shiites deepened. Alan Mikhail shows in a fascinating way how closely the history of Europe and America is intertwined with that of the Islamic world. Whether we like it or not, the world we live in is a very Ottoman one. And only Sultan Selim can tell us this story.