The Path of the Martyrs: Charles Martel, The Battle of Tours and the Birth of Europe

'If there are cathedrals rather than mosques in the great cities of western Europe, it is thanks to the defeat of a Muslim army by Charles Martel in 732. With considerable scholarship spiced with wit, Ed. West puts the battle in its historical context, and shows how it set the course of history for more than a thousand years.' Piers Paul Read 732. The future of Europe is held in the balance. A Frankish force, assembled at speed, ready themselves to resist an army from the largest empire the world has ever seen. The Franks and Arabs give battle, between the cities of Poitiers and Tours. Would France become part of the sophisticated Muslim world to the south, or remain in the control of the Christian barbarians? The battle proves bloody, a clash of arms and civilisations. With the west lying in ruins after the fall of Rome, Charles Martel's victory would become the defining battle of the age, leading a chronicler soon after to describe the defenders by a new term -‘Europeans’. In this gripping and informed account Ed West records the rise of the Islamic Empire, the emergence of the Franks in the ashes of Rome, and the events leading to the fateful day when Europe’s future was decided close to the river Loire. Ed West is an author, journalist and blogger who has written for the Daily Telegraph , Catholic Herald , Evening Standard , The Times , Daily Express , Standpoint and the Spectator . He wrote a regular blog first for the Daily Telegraph and later for the Spectator , described by Peter Oborne as 'one of the most interesting of the rising generation of political writers'. He is also the author of a number of history books, the latest of which, Iron, Fire and Ice , looks at the historical inspiration for Game of Thrones. Praise for The Path of the Martyrs : 'Exciting' Al Murray 'Ed West makes the past come alive. He writes clearly, authoritatively and amusingly about the kind of history you feel you should know about but have always found a bit complicated. After reading West, you'll never get your Ostrogoths mixed up with your Visigoths again.' Henry Jeffreys, author of Empire of Booze 'Ace... If you haven't bought & read it yet, what are you waiting for? Do it. Buy it. Buy it now.' Andrew Lilico **'If there are cathedrals rather than mosques in the great cities of western Europe, it is thanks to the defeat of a Muslim army by Charles Martel in 732. With considerable scholarship spiced with wit, Ed. West puts the battle in its historical context, and shows how it set the course of history for more than a thousand years.' Piers Paul Read** The future of Europe is held in the balance. The Franks and Arabs give battle, between the cities of Poitiers and Tours. The battle proves bloody, a clash of arms and civilisations. In this gripping and informed account Ed West records the rise of the Islamic Empire, the emergence of the Franks in the ashes of Rome, and the events leading to the fateful day when Europe’s future was decided close to the river Loire. **Praise for__The Path of the Martyrs__:** 'Ed West makes the past come alive. He writes clearly, authoritatively and amusingly about the kind of history you feel you should know about but have always found a bit complicated. After reading West, you'll never get your Ostrogoths mixed up with your Visigoths again.' Henry Jeffreys, author of__Empire of Booze__ In the early decades of the 8th century AD, Islamic forces were flooding into Europe through the Iberian peninsula, threatening Frankish and Burgundian territory and raiding it with ever-increasing ferocity. At the battle of Poitiers, also known as Tours, Christian forces under the Frankish leader Charles Martel "The Hammer" (grandfather of Charlemagne) confronted a massive invading Islamic army. The Franks were victorious, effectively halting the northward advance of Islam and preserving Christianity as the dominant faith in Europe. The book draws on contemporary sources to reconstruct this turning-point battle, places it in its historical context and reviews its background and immediate and longer-term historical consequences.