A bestselling historian recounts the epic clash that ended the Renaissance and pushed Islam to the gates of Vienna. In Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston, Jr. brought two epochal events in the struggle between Islam and Christendom to readers eager to understand the roots of the present-day conflict. With his unwavering eye for detail, Reston now weaves a captivating narrative that examines a pivotal period in that centuries- long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This saga of colliding worlds is propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns -- the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent -- and is supported by a wide range of larger-than-life characters, who lend this meticulously researched history a novel's worth of suspense and brio. - Publisher.

Includes maps of: Constantinople to Vienna, ca. 1500.

The die is cast -- Horsetails and worms -- Ancestral aspirations -- The capture of a king -- More was lost at Mohacs -- The sack of Rome -- The end of the Renaissance -- The gates of Vienna -- Last gasp in Europe -- The natural enemy.