The Last Crusade puts the reader on da Gama`s ships in the midst of a perplexing, terrifying, yet exciting new world & in doing so traces the ancestry of antagonism between the world`s two dominant faiths, Christianity & Islam. In 1498 a young captain sailed from Portugal, circumnavigated Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean, & discovered the sea route to the Indies, opening up access to the fabled wealth of the East. It was the longest voyage known to history; the ships were pushed to their limits, their crews were racked by storms & devastated by disease. However, the greatest enemy was neither nature nor the fear of venturing into unknown worlds. With blood-red Crusader crosses emblazoned on their sails, the explorers arrived in the heart of the Muslim East at a time when the old hostilities between Christianity & Islam had intensified. In two voyages that spanned six years, Vasco da Gama would fight a running sea battle that would ultimately change the fate of three continents. The Last Crusade is an epic tale of spies, intrigue, & treachery; of bravado, brinkmanship, & confused
- often comical collisions
- between cultures encountering one another for the first time. With the world once again tipping back East, The Last Crusade offers a key to understanding age-old religious & cultural rivalries resurgent today.