Early Modern Dialogue with Islam: Antonio de Sosa's Topography of Algiers (1612)

_An Early Modern Dialogue with Islam: Antonio de Sosa 's_ Topography of Algiers (1612) makes available in translation a riveting sixteenth-century chronicle of European and North African cultural contacts that is virtually unknown to English-speaking readers. The _Topography_ was written by a Portuguese cleric, Doctor Antonio de Sosa, who was captured by Algerian corsairs in 1577 and held as a Barbary slave for over four years while awaiting ransom. Sosa's work is a fascinating description of a city at the crossroads of civilizations, with a sophisticated multilingual population of Turks, Arabs, Moriscos, Berbers, Jews, Christian captives, and converts to Islam from across the world.\u000a\u000aIn the _Topography of Algiers_, Sosa meticulously describes the inhabitants' daily lives; their fashions, pastimes, feasts, and funerals; their government; the landmarks of the city itself; and much more. Readers will be struck by the vibrancy of his narrative, rendered into English with crisp accuracy by Diana de Armas Wilson. The _Topography_ is a treasure trove of amazing customs, startling behavior, and historical anecdotes that will enthrall readers. The extensive introduction by Mar\u00eda Antonia Garc\u00e9s is a superb archival study of the Mediterranean world described by the _Topography_, as well as an expos\u00e9 of the adventurous, even scandalous, life of its author. The introduction also discusses the fraudulent publication of Sosa 's _Topography_ under another man 's name.\u000a\u000a\u000a\u000aSosa's chronicle stands out for its complexity, vitality, and the sharpness of the author's ethnographic vision. No other account of captivity in this period offers such a detailed and dynamic tableau of Algerian society at the end of the sixteenth century.\u000a\u000a