Roger Crowley read English at Cambridge University and taught English in Istanbul. He has traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean basin over many years and has a wide-ranging interest in its past and culture, as well as in seafaring and eyewitness history. He is also the author of 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West, Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World, and City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. He lives in Gloucestershire, England.
Praise for Conquerors
“Excellent . . . [Roger] Crowley’s interpretations are nuanced and
fair.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“In a riveting narrative, Crowley chronicles Portugal's
horrifically violent trajectory from ‘impoverished, marginal’
nation to European power, vying with Spain and Venice to dominate
the spice trade.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Brings to life the Portuguese explorers . . . perfect for anyone
who likes a high seas tale.”—Publishers Weekly
“Readers of Crowley’s previous books will not be disappointed by
this exciting tale of sea battles, land campaigns and shipwrecks. .
. . Crowley makes a good case for reclaiming Portugal’s
significance as forger of the first global empire.”—The Daily
Telegraph
“In his previous studies of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century
struggles between Christians and Ottomans for control of the
Mediterranean, Crowley has shown a rare gift for combining
compelling narrative with lightly worn academic thoroughness as
well as for balancing the human with the geopolitical—qualities on
display here. The story he has to tell may be a thrilling one but
not every historian could tell it so thrillingly.”—Michael Prodger,
Financial Times
“A fast-moving and highly readable narrative, which covers the
voyages of Dias and da Gama and the battles and conquests of
Almeida and Albuquerque . . . [Crowley’s] detailed reconstruction
of events is based on a close reading of the works of the
chroniclers, notably Barros and Correa, whose accounts were written
in the tradition of the chronicles of chivalry.”—History Today
Praise for Roger Crowley’s Empires of the Sea
“Crowley has an astonishing gift for narration; his account is as
exciting as any thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Crowley’s page-turner history . . . deserves to be this [season’s]
most recommended nonfiction book. . . . Rich in character, action,
surprise, what transpired in those few desperate weeks is one of
history’s best and most thrilling stories.”—The Dallas Morning
News
“[Crowley] offers exquisitely delicate insights and undulating
descriptive passages. Yet in his descriptions of the battles, his
prose is so taut and tense, it is impossible not to be caught up in
the harrowing action.”—The Christian Science Monitor
City of Fortune
“[Crowley] writes with a racy briskness that lifts sea battles and
sieges off the page.”—The New York Times
“The rise and fall of Venice’s empire is an irresistible story, and
Crowley, with his rousing descriptive gifts and scholarly attention
to detail, is its perfect chronicler.”— Financial Times
“A pleasure to read . . . a gripping story.”—Washington Independent
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