Michael Baizerman Author

  My second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East," has appeared in print and was published by AuthorHouse UK. I feel elevated and relieved. I hope I have improved the content through careful editorship, and my readers will enjoy traveling across the pages. My book is set in the European Middle Ages, and its main characters are Latin scholars who had imagined the lands and people of the Far East long before they set off to visit them.  There are four main topics that I focused on while writing. The first one is geography: how come that geography being of trivial importance for Latin academics, had gained traction and invited travel?  The second one is history. Who were the horrible Tartars who had nearly conquered western Europe in 1241-1242, where did they spring up, and what would they do next?  The third one is mythology. I picked up two medieval legends: Alexander Barrier and Prester John. I researched the development of these tall tales and showed how th...

I have just started a discussion on my latest paper  https://www.academia.edu/82514995/The_Mysterious_Letter This chapter from my book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East," continues the exploration of the popular character (Prester John) and his impact on multiple fans worldwide. I invite you to take part in the debates.  In the abstract, I wrote: " The mysterious letter penned by the elusive potentate, Prester John, became the talk of several European royal courts. The writer invited heads of state to visit his fascinating country abounding with marvels and wonders. The audience was divided between enchantment and skepticism, leaving nobody lukewarm".  Meanwhile, I devoted much time to developing my current topic: the evolution of war galleys in the medieval and renaissance Mediterranean. I think I have found a reference point, the Byzantine fleet, especially its ebb and flow between the sixth and the eleventh centuries.    The rise of the Italian fleets...

  A model of a sixteenth-century Maltese galley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galley  This is the title of the second chapter of my new manuscript. To put it simply, it is about war galleys in the Mediterranean. I have entered the stage of assessing and developing data. It will take a long time, and I will probably write several blog entries concerning this topic. Why does it take so long? The chapter will have at least four divisions: light galleys, the monster galley, the intricacies of naval warfare, and the shipborne artillery. For each section, I need to read the collected data, decide on its relevance, and write what I call "scraps," i.e., a memorable phrase, sentence, or a paragraph attached to that piece of info. I also need to check the details. For example, one source says that Ottoman shipwrights produced inferior galleys because they used "green" timber (unseasoned wood). An extraordinary claim that may need an additional quest. What was wrong with the O...