Judaism was exiled from Spain; Islam was getting more powerful in the east, Christianity in the west that, after a thousand years of darkness it was plunged in, began to seek its truth. And the Ark of the Covenant (for some mysterious reason) chose to reappear during these troubled times after being lost for centuries following the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. In her novel, Deniz Uzunoglu builds around the turbulent times of the Renaissance. Deniz tells the stories of two childhood friends who had fallen in love with the same woman and eventually came sword-to-sword against each other during the 15th-16th century Mediterranean in a never-ending fight culminating at the Battle of Preveza. On the one side, there is Khidr Khaireddin Barbarossa, who started life trading with a small vessel, became the Lord of the Barbary Coast, founded Algiers, and eventually rose to the rank of the Ottoman Imperial Admiral. On the other side, Andrea Doria, the famous Admiral of the Holy League, the Crusaders. Wanting to learn more about the era after the Spanish Monarchs Isabel and Fernando completed Reconquista in an effort to unite all their subjects under the wings of Christianity, William Shakespeare came from Britain to Spain to visit Miguel Cervantes Saavedra, author of the legendary novel Don Quixote. Cervantes had fought against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto, was wounded on his left hand, and spent five years in captivity in the baths of Algiers before finally being ransomed from the Turks and returned to his homeland. The period Cervantes told Shakespeare about was when world-renowned historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Piri Reis, Dragut Reis, and Niccolo Machiavelli lived. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Selim the Stern and Suleiman the Magnificent dominated the east, with their eyes set on Rome, and the Knights of Saint John, settled in the island of Rhodes, were striking fear into the hearts of people trading in the Mediterranean. BARBAROSSA: Renaissance Corsairs presents in a fluent style the struggles between the warriors of the time, notorious for their competence and valor, during a period when empires fought the bloodiest land and sea battles in history. Political maneuverings of the world's most extraordinary emperors were striving to expand the borders of their imperial territories, and an epic love that blossomed in the hearts of both of these men for the same woman in this fiery atmosphere, inviting the reader to embark on a breathtaking adventure.