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Holy War and Human Bondage

Holy War and Human Bondage: Tales of Christian‐Muslim Slavery in the Early‐Modern Mediterranean is a 2009 non-fiction book by Robert Davis, published by Praeger.

It discusses intra-Christian slavery and slavery of Muslims by Christians. According to Jeff Grabmeier of Ohio State University, the book received less overall attention compared to Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters.[1]

Eric R. Dursteler of Brigham Young University stated that the work "stands on its own and presents a more expansive and comprehensive, yet accessible, synthetic treatment of" its topic.[2] Dursteler stated that since several people taking slaves did not discriminate by religion on whether to take slaves, the "provocative" title "is a bit misleading."[2]

Content

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Some chapters are longer and some are shorter, content characterized by Dursteler as "vignettes".[2]

According to Dursteler, "there is a solidly European focus to the book",[2] and that it is "only lightly informed by relevant Ottoman scholarship".[3] Consequently, the amount of content related to slaves who followed Islam is less compared to the content about slaves who followed Christianity.[2]

Reception

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Dursteler had an overall favorable reception and that his criticisms were "relatively minor quibbles".[3]

Maria Fusaro of the University of Exeter, citing the one page-long "works cited", which she characterized as "exceedingly short", concluded that the book is "highly problematic".[4] According to Fusaro, while Davis stated in the introduction that he wished to tailor his work to a non-academic audience, Davis may have been conflicted on whether to do so.[4]

References

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  • Dursteler, Eric R. (2011). "Robert C. Davis. Holy War and Human Bondage: Tales of Christian‐Muslim Slavery in the Early‐Modern Mediterranean. (Praeger Series on the Early Modern World.) Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger. 2009. Pp. xi, 316. $49.95". The American Historical Review. 116 (1): 216–217.
  • Fusaro, Maria (2012). "Holy War and Human Bondage: Tales of Christian-Muslim Slavery in the Early-Modern Mediterranean, by Robert C. Davis". The English Historical Review. 127 (526): 728–729. JSTOR 41474122.

Notes

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  1. ^ Grabmeier, Jeff (2020-03-21). "Why is a 16-year-old book on slavery so popular now?". Ohio State News. Ohio State University. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dursteler, p. 216.
  3. ^ a b Dursteler, p. 217.
  4. ^ a b Fusaro, p. 728.

Further reading

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