"Looking East" explores early modern English attitudes toward the Ottoman Empire in the seventeenth century. To a nation just arriving on the international scene, the Ottoman Empire was at once the great enemy and scourge of Christendom, and at the same time the fabulously wealthy and magnificent court from which the sultan ruled over three continents with his great and powerful army. By taking the imaginative, literary and poetic writing about the Ottoman Turks and putting it alongside contemporary historical documents, the book shows that fascination with the Ottoman Empire shaped how the English thought about and represented their own place within the world as a nation with increasing imperial ambitions of its own.

"The Rise of Oriental Travel" follows four seventeenth-century Englishmen on their journeys around the Ottoman Empire while it was still expanding westward and the British were, for the first time in history, becoming important players in the Mediterranean. Contrary to the hostile declamations of Protestant preachers, they all found much to admire, from the multi-culturalism of the Ottoman system to the food, weather and styles of life. This book shows that hostility between East and West is neither historical or inevitable, but rather the result of selective memory.

This book tells the story of how a nineteenth-century concept, the Renaissance, has encouraged us to forget many of the artistic, social, religious, and cultural links between East and West characteristic of previous centuries. In chapters ranging from Ottoman history to sodomy, from portraits of St. George to Arabic philosophy, from cannibalism to diplomacy, celebrated writers and eminent scholars interrogate what all too often seem to be settled certainties, such as the "inevitable conflict" between Islam and Christianity, and the "rebirth of European" civilizaton from exclusively European origins.

Looking East examines how English encounters with the Ottoman Empire helped shape national identities and imperial ambitions. Engagingly written in an accessible style, this book demonstrates how the so-called 'conflict of civilizations' separating the Muslim East from the Christian West is a false and dangerous myth.

"The Rise of Oriental Travel" follows four Seventeenth-century Englishmen on their journeys around the Ottoman Empire while it was still expanding westward and the British were, for the first time in history, becoming important players in the Mediterranean. Contrary to the hostile declamations of Protestant preachers, they all found much to admire, from the multi-culturalism of the Ottoman system to the food, weather and styles of life. This book shows that hostility between East and West is neither historical nor inevitable, but rather the result of selective memory.

This book explores how the Renaissance entailed a global exchange of goods, skills and ideas between East and West. In chapters ranging from Ottoman history to Venetian publishing, from portraits of St George to Arab philosophy, from cannibalism to diplomacy, the authors interrogate what all too often may seem to be settled certainties, such as the difference between East and West, the invariable conflict between Islam and Christianity, and the 'rebirth' of European civilization from roots in classical Greece and Imperial Rome.

When aging ballplayer Paul Kolbe learns that the St. Louis Cardinals need a replacement player, he's determined to return to the field for one last hurrah. He's past his prime, his health is failing, and he's an alcoholic, but he refuses to let these things stand in his way.

But on his way back to the field, Paul must overcome even more obstacles. He has to deal with individuals inside and outside the baseball organization who are determined to block his success, and he must resolve the conflicted feelings he has about two dubious women he's dating.

He does, however, get support and encouragement along the way, particularly from the ghost of long-dead baseball great Joe Fisher, the last National League player to win the Triple Crown over seventy-five years ago. Part of Joe's success was due to the use of Northwoods pine tar for superior bat grip, an item he provides Paul from time to time.

As he chases his dream, Paul's health continues to decline, and he finds himself in desperate need of a liver transplant but knows that getting one would ruin his last shot at being a professional player. Will he be able to play and still get the transplant in time? Or are some dreams really worth dying for in the end?

With Principal Contributions By Robert William Haigh, Richard S. Rosenbloom And Abraham Zaleznik.