Confrontation at Lepanto: Christendom vs. Islam

Short but well written.

I am a published author who is constantly reading and doing research for my upcoming books. I was recently given this book as a gift by a friend who had not read the book, but purchased it based on the beautiful cover. I found the book quite disturbing due to the author's constant bashing of the Catholic Church. She makes all kinds of malicious allegations, but there are no footnotes, and she references nothing. There is no bibliography, so we are left to wonder what her allegations are based upon. We don't know. She seems to be an authority unto herself. Her assertions can be easily disproven by anyone with an open mind who will actually do the research. The author does not stay focused on her topic, and these false allegations against the Catholic Church have nothing to do with the actual battle of Lepanto.As an example, on page 24, she states: "By contrast to the chaotic German states, Spain was easily the most cohesive - read: repressive - and affluent country in Europe at the time..," She further states that "this gave it a significant advantage in its dealings with other nations, and, for that matter, the Catholic Church, which it strove to direct along its own, very conservative, path." It's interesting that the author doesn't even let the readers draw their own conclusions, she literally tells them what to think. And, since when does being conservative mean that you're repressive?On the next page, she continues: "For this was the height of the Spanish Inquisition, an institution that defined most of the policies of the Spanish Empire, and where Spain went, so did the Spanish version of Catholicism, carried by hosts of monks whose task it was to convert the heathen in foreign lands, or let the soldiers either enslave or kill them for being unworthy of salvation." Actually, the Spanish monarchs protected the natives in the new world, as much as was in their power to do so. Forced conversions were never the policy of the Spanish government or the Catholic Church, and the government punished those who treated the Indians unfairly. The fact that some men did evil does not make that the policy of the government. In addition, the Catholic Church has never said that anyone or any race of people is unworthy of salvation.Then, as now, there were people who acted outside of the law, and being half-way across the planet, some people took advantage of the fact that they were so far away from government oversight that they thought that they could act with impunity. That does not make the conduct of those individuals the official policy of the Spanish government. Should we apply that notion to our own county? If we did, then it would be just as accurate to say that since we have had, on occasion, mass murderers in our schools that our government somehow advocates that conduct. That's just ridiculous.The author gives the "official" Spanish position as "...since there was no mention of the American natives in Scripture, they were destined for Limbo and could not hope for Heaven, which meant that the Church need not be responsible for their salvation, or their abuse. For the next fifty years, this posture dictated Spanish policy toward all American natives with the sole exception of the Incas." (pg. 25)This is absolutely false in all regards. Christ said to go out and teach all nations. That means that the Church is apostolic by its very nature. Why would He have sent the apostles out to teach all nations if some races of people had no hope of salvation? The very reason that the monks went to the New World was to help them save their souls, and the Spanish government gave the bishop in charge the title of "Protector of the Indians." By this and the special laws that were established at the time by the Spanish monarchs to protect the Indians, we can deduce that the official policy of the Spanish government was indeed the Protection of the Indians.Finally, and most egregiously, she states: "In Spain, persecution of supposed heretics reached levels significantly in excess of those in other countries, and served to feed the witch-frenzy in many Protestant religions. It may be significant that in Spain, the accused heretics were, in nine out of ten cases, women, and it was regarded as proof of female diabolism if an Inquisitor got an erection during the Questioning (read: unofficial torture) of an accused woman." (pg. 25-26)Really? There was someone there keeping these statistics? This is highly offensive and inflammatory. As an author, and student of history, I have never seen these allegations from any authoritative source. I don't believe the author has either, particularly since there are no footnotes, references or even a bibliography.Literally millions of Indians in the New World converted to the Catholic Faith, and their descendents remain Catholic to this very day. The Catholic faith is a religion adhered to and deeply loved by nearly 25% of the world's population, well over 1 billion people. Surely the author does not think that all of us have been duped, or that we have no right to believe as we do.For some reason, in our politically correct world, it's OK to insult the faith of 1 billion people, while every other cult is demanding respect and inclusion. How do we Catholics get in on that tolerance and inclusion thing?The author's repeated false allegations against the Spanish and the Catholic Church have nothing to do with the battle of Lepanto, so one is left to wonder why she finds it necessary to slander them. I am also left to wonder if she is writing under a pen name because she's unwilling to take responsibility for her statements.I give this book 1 star only because there is no lower rating.

T. C. F. Hopkins is a pen name of vampire fantasy writer Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. This book has an earnest quality that is touching and slightly pathetic by turns. The back dustjacket-flap states that the author is "a famous and beloved author" who has been nominated for prizes but has never won any. This book is unlikely to change that trend. The writing is convoluted and over-punctuated, with frequent overblown vocabulary ("carnassial hatred," "oppugnant" purposes, a "recreant" capture, "diplomatic abjuration"), fatuous phrasing ("Europe had other problems on its plate," "dragged their metaphorical heels"), and too much repetition of content and phrase for an edited book. It is enough to state once that Venetians called their city The Most Serene Republic of Venice. Repeating the phrase at intervals seems too cute. That's unfortunate, because as an introduction to European religious politics of the 16th century and the great naval battle of Lepanto in the Corinth Channel in 1571, the book presents good background and a reasonably interesting narrative.My own interest in the battle stems from the fact that Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote" (Part I, 1605), served on a Spanish ship and emerged from the battle with his left hand maimed. The book has an index but no bibliography or notes, so the reader can't know what sources the author relied on or where to read more about some aspect of the events leading up to this bloody battle or resulting from the hard-fought victory of the Holy League over the Ottoman fleet. (This is particularly odd because the author has a detailed bibilography of her own books on her official Web site.) This unwillingness to acknowledge her sources makes the book much less useful than it might otherwise have been. The description of the battle has good passages but tends to peter out where a more able writer (C. S. Forester, Patrick O'Brian) would have brought out the excitement of the battle for the reader. If the publishers issue this book in paperback, they would be well advised to acknowledge sources and to provide better maps and some illustrations of the different types of ship used in the battle.