Scanderbeg

This is the first biography of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg (1403-1468), published in England for more than four hundred years. The son of a prince of N Albania, he was educated in the Muslim faith as a hostage at the court of Sultan Murad II. The sultan showered favors on him and gave him the title bey and an army command. In 1443, when the Ottomans indicated they would attack Albania, Scanderbeg escaped to his homeland, abjured Islam, and formed a league of princes among the Albanian chieftains. He proclaimed himself prince of Albania. To resist the Ottomans under Sultan Muhammad II, Scanderbeg received aid at various times from Venice, Naples, Hungary, and the pope. Written by the late Harry Hodgkinson, a former naval intelligence officer who served under Ian Fleming, this engrossing and elegantly crafted book is an attempt to bring the reader closer to this famous historical figure and to set him in the dramatic context of Albania and its history.