This started off really well. Extremely engaging style that really had me hooked, up to page 81. Then the minimalisation of the Altantic slave trade was a little too much. I started reading with a more critical eye and found that the book appeared to be completely biased. These days it would probably be heralded by the "western chauvanists", though it did encourage me to search out texts from the Ottoman Empires perspective, just to get a balance. It did descend into a long list of battles decrying the bloodthirsty barbaric Turks and making excuses for the Christians. It did a good job, because the Christians come across as rather inept.