Friday, February 4, 2022

The Enchanting Encounter with the East: A New Book

 Authorhouse UK, the self-publishing company that printed my first book, "Dawn and Sunset: A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East", has offered to issue my second volume. Heaven knows, I did a lot to avoid this chance.

Meanwhile, I have found no traditional publisher that is enthusiastic about bringing out my composition. Since I had no alternative, I finally agreed. 

I did my best, revising the entire text again. I added several images though I am not sure that they will accompany the text. My literary consultant said that I need to ask permission from the owners of the photos even though most of my artwork is borrowed from  Wikipedia. I wrote several letters but received only one permission, from the British Library concerning the Psalter Mappa Mundi, where Jesus blesses the earth. 

In the following weeks, you will catch a glimpse of my second book.

It is titled, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East: Breaking the Ice between the Latin West and the Far East". I have uploaded more than half of the volume on the Academia site, https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael

Since nobody knows the exact order of the chapters, I will present the content here. The book comprises 29 chapters arrayed in six units. 

Unit I: THE MIRACULOUS REVIVAL OR THE PAINFUL RECOVERY

1: What If the Earth is the Sphere

2: How to Measure the Earth's Circumference

3: How Long Spans the Inhabited World

Bottom Line


Unit II:  The Saga of All My Sons

4. The Trefoil of the World

5. Where is the Heart of the World: The Location of Jerusalem on European Mind Maps

6. In Black and White: Racial Prejudices in the European Middle Ages

7. The Enigma of the Antipodes

Bottom Line 


Unit III: Unveiling the Alien

8. The Squall from the East

9. The Suspension Bridge across the Abyss

10. The Swan Song of the Mongol Thrust

Bottom Line


Unit IV: Mapping Marvels and Monsters: In the Shadow of the Iron Gate

11.     Meet your Enemy

12.     Alexander at the Caspian Gates

13.     Beware of Barbarians

14.     A Kernel of Truth

15.     Alexander Versus Gog-Magog

16.     The Lost and Found Tribes

17.     The Ten Tribes and Other Monsters

18.     The Turks in Jacob’s Tents 

Bottom Line


Unit V: Dreams Amid Debris: In the Shoes of Prester John

Prologue

19.     The Early Encounters: Under the Historic Radar

20.     The Shadow Crusader: Otto of Freising                

21.     The Black Prince: Yelu Dashi

22.     The Mysterious Letter

23.     Waiting for the Train that Would Never Come:  The Fifth Crusade 

24.     The Scourge of God: Chinggis Khan

25.     The Underdog and the Power Strife on the Steppes

Bottom Line


Unit VI: The Witness in the Den

26.     Barefooted Envoys

27.     John of Plano Carpini

28.     William of Rubruck   

29.     John of Montecorvino   

Bottom Line

List of Illustrations

Personal and Geographic Index

Further Reading

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