Random House Books for Young Readers The Sultan and the Queen: The Untold Story of Elizabeth and Islam

A detailed study of the relations between England and the Middle East during the 1500’s and early 1600’s. Protestant Elizabeth 1st looked for political and trading alliances with several Muslim leaders (particularly with The Ottomans ) in order to counter the power of the Catholic kings and emperors of Europe. Gives real insight into the world of Elizabeth’s foreign policy and intrigues. Draws on both European and Eastern sources. An insight into Elizabeth’s reign which is normally overlooked. Amazing stories of exploration and daring, English merchants in Russia and Persia, the English man who became an ambassador for the Shah of Persia and toured the courts of Europe, Moorish visitors to London who appeared in the cast of Shakespeare’s plays. I can only say this book is full of excitement, insights, and amazement.

Book arrived quickly, and brand new! Very happy.

“The Sultan and the Queen” is a very interesting book describing the interactions between the court of Elizabeth I and three Muslim States, i.e., the Ottoman Empire, Persia and Morocco.At the time of Elizabeth I, England was just a tiny island that was pretty much isolated from the rest of Europe. For this rebellious Protestant island, establishing closer relationships with Muslim powers was a way to survive politically and economically. Brotton’s book includes very well documented descriptions of the circumstances and events that led to the first commercial, diplomatic and military contacts between England and the leading Muslim powers. According to Brotton’s account, the fate of England was in the hands of a few individuals. Driven by their desire to explore unknown countries, expand their businesses or discharge their patriotic duty - these individuals embarked on enduring, challenging and dangerous journeys lasting years or even decades. Among those fascinating characters were Antony Jenkinson, a traveller; Edmund Hogan, a merchant; William Harborne, a government spy; Anthony Sherley, a soldier and a privateer.Brotton has interwoven into his book episodes from plays by Tudor’s playwrights. In this way he has added another dimension to his story. These episodes allow gauging the reaction of ordinary Englishmen to the appearance of Eastern and Muslim characters in 16th century London. Brotton notices that between 1576 and 1603, there were more than sixty plays staged in London’s public theatres that featured Turks, Moors and Persians. With references to Christopher Marlow’s “Tamburlaine” and George Peel’s “Battle of Alcazar,” Brottom clarifies that “Tudor dramatists were not moralizing priests or foreign policy advisers. They wanted to exploit the ambivalent emotions created by English experiences in the east as spectacular, captivating drama.” William Shakespeare, on the other hand, used Islamic characters and settings to highlight “the religious differences confronting the Elizabethans in the early 1590.” In “Othello”, for example, Shakespeare was “testing the limits of what the audience is prepared to believe is true.” By combining history and literary criticism, Brotton definitively enhanced the value of his book.One factor that is missing in Brotton’s book is the lack of explanation of how it was possible for Elizabethan England to be transformed from a comparatively weak ignoble backwater of Europe into a powerful Renaissance state. Let’s recall that in the following century, England would dominate much of the world. Historically, one may look at it as a certain quantum leap of the world’s power structure. How was it possible to realize such a profound change? What was it that did make it possible? By answering this question, Brotton would be able to approach his aim in a much more effective manner. The interesting thing is that the answer to this question is provided by Shakespeare in his plays.Brotton states that his overall aim was to encourage tolerance and inclusiveness at a time “when both are in short supply.” It is a noble aim. The irony of this kind of approach is that by limiting Shakespeare’s writings to highlighting religious differences and testing the audience’s credulity greatly reduces the plays’ value. Shakespeare’s plays contain the description of a very precise methodology of how to affect a society so it can be capable of making a mental quantum leap and contributing constructively to its evolutionary growth. Shakespeare explained how this methodology was implemented and what techniques were used to bring England out of her Dark Ages and transform her into a powerful Renaissance state. However, in order to perceive Shakespeare’s message one would have to remove quite a few of the mental barriers implanted in our minds. In this context, the effectiveness of the traditional approaches to Shakespeare’s writing may be compared to the casting of magical spells instead of performing a surgical removal of a mental cataract. Unfortunately, Shakespearean scholarship is still at the spell-invoking level. As long as we limit ourselves to “spells,” Brotton’s aim will remain noble but ineffective.

A fascinating story, well told. My only quibble is with the misleading title, "The Sultan and the Queen", intimating that we will read about some contact and relationship between Elizabeth and an unnamed Sultan, much like Queen Victoria had her Turkish fling with Abdul Karim (see the movie "Victoria and Abdul" or the book by Shrabani Basu). In fact Elizabeth is entirely in the background, and the only contacts with Sultans, Shahs and other Turks, amply described in the book, are of her emissaries.

A part of history that most of us never were taught. Explains a lot about current geo-political relationships and longstanding alliances. Who would have thought that Protestants would have disliked Catholics so much that they would have aligned with non-Christian countries. But then, politics makes for strange bed-fellows both then and now!