God's Shadow

Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World

By: Alan Mikhail

Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart

Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. At the height of their authority in the 16th century, the Ottomans controlled more territory and ruled over more people than any world power, forcing Europeans out of the Mediterranean and to the New World.

Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).

Mikhail's game-changing account uses Selim's life to upend prevailing shibboleths about Islamic history and jingoistic "rise of the West" theories that have held sway for decades. Whether recasting Christopher Columbus's voyages to the "Americas" as a bumbling attempt to slay Muslims or showing how the Ottomans allowed slaves to become the elite of society while Christian states at the very same time waged the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, God's Shadow radically reshapes our understanding of the importance of Selim's Ottoman Empire in the history of the modern world.

©2020 Alan Mikhail (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A fascinating book

I learned a lot from this book easy-to-follow and a good story. This makes me look at European and US history in a new light.

A profound perspective of world history .

Some stories just grab your imagination and take it on a journey of profound experiential vision. This writing and narration has been such an illumination for me. Thank you!

Brilliant

I loved this book. I can’t recommend it enough. 10/10. We’ve talked about it non stop at our home.

Real history brought to life

I have over 2,200 books in my audible library and this is in the 1% of it. I learned so much about the modern world from the 15th century. The author needs to keep on coming with books. The writing style is beautiful.

Ignore the holier than thou shrieks

Fascinating and mind opening. If you like getting a single perspective of history written by the victors, this book is NOT for you. If you think that the Muslims were evil and Christians good, again just read todays main stream media. But if you looking for an interesting perspective, something to challenge that brain and beliefs of yours, a veil lifting book, this is for you!