Road to Manzikert: Byzantine and Islamic Warfare, 527-1071
"Carey's book is not limited to discussing direct action between the Byzantines and the Muslims; it also considers Byzantine wars on other fronts. This is important for understanding how Byzantine warfare changed in the stated period. Chapters are well-supported with relevant maps...In addition 20 black and white illustrations and a chronology support the text."-Medieval Warfare"This book is about much more than the battle. The authors take us through 500 years of conflict from Justinian through the rise of Islam to the coming of the Turks. Usefully, not just a focus on the Byzantine Empire but good chapters on Islamic warfare as well. The narrative is well written, but the strength of the book is in the maps and diagrams of the key battles. This really brings the text alive."-Balkan Military History"Military history publishing house Pen & Sword has recently published a new historical analysis of the Battle of Manzikert by medieval expert Brian Todd Carey. It firmly grounds the battle in the context of the history of the five centuries that led up to that fateful day in 1071. Entitled Road to Manzikert, Carey explains not only what happened in a small Anatolian town in the modern-day province of Mu , but also why it was inevitable and what its consequences were.  The narrative of this history is unusual because, focusing on the military aspects, it is told in a neutral fashion.  Professor Carey neither seeks to portray the forces of Islam as jihadists with an agenda to take over the world, nor does he extol them as martyrs. In our modern world protagonists on each side of the war on terror tell the story of early Islamic battles and the later crusades in a manner that either aims to invoke Muslim phobia or that can be used to inspire and recruit for al-Qaeda. Carey treads the clear middle ground between these two ideologies, giving the military and tactical facts, well supported by superb maps and charts drawn by Joshua Allfree and John Cairns.  Carey tells a gripping story of desertion, defection and betrayal amongst the Byzantine troops and of the fleet and ferocious Seljuk steppe warriors that were the greatest light cavalry troops of their age. The Alparslan he describes is neither the blood-drinking demon as styled by Byzantine historians from nearby Edessa (modern Urfa) nor a saintly Joan-of-Arc style hero, but a real military man with real military concerns.  His account is thoughtful, measured and believable. The illustrations and maps make his academic research accessible, and the useful tables of chronology of events and leaders on both sides and glossaries of military and historical terms are excellent summaries of the facts make for a clear and concise overview of why Mu  really can claim to be 'the gateway to Anatolia.'"-Marion JamesToday's Zaman