Useful Enemies

This insightful audiobook explores how Western European writers from the fall of Constantinople through the 18th century viewed the Ottoman Empire, reflecting both fear and curiosity about its social and political systems. Noel Malcolm examines the evolving Western perceptions of the Ottomans and Islam as political entities, analyzing works by notable thinkers such as Machiavelli, Bodin, and Montesquieu. The book sheds light on how these ideas influenced broader debates about power, religion, society, and war in the West.