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The Crusades The Authoritative History Of

From a widely known and esteemed historian who writes with “maximum vividness” (The New Yorker) comes the most authoritative, readable single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the holy land

Nine hundred years ago, a vast Christian army, summoned to holy war by the Pope, rampaged through the Muslim world of the eastern Mediterranean, seizing possession of Jerusalem, a city revered by both faiths. Over the two hundred years that followed, Islam and Christianity fought for dominion of the Holy Land, clashing in a succession of chillingly brutal wars: the Crusades. Here for the primary time is the story of that epic struggle told from the perspective of both Christians and Muslims. A bright and fast-paced narrative history, it discloses the full horror, passion, and barbaric grandeur of the Crusading era, revealing how these holy wars reshaped the medieval world and why they proceed to influence events today.

From BooklistAuthor of The First Crusade (2004), British historian Asbridge widens his vista to the entire 1195–1291 duration of the crusading era, giving prominence in the holy-war epic to antagonists evermore famous: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. Each leader’s role as standard-bearer of his cause reflects Asbridge’s substantial special importance and significance on the entanglement of secular politics with the overt religious aspect to the wars amongst Latin Christianity and Islam. Crass considerations of dynastic power were never discerned from the calculations of these champions and their successors, and partly indicate Islam’s desultory pace in expunging the Christian states conventional by the First Crusade. In addition, medieval warfare’s high-risk character—in which a single encounter, such as the 1098 siege of Antioch or the 1187 Battle of Hattin, could completely turn the strategic tables—goes far in Asbridge’s competent hands to informing readers regarding the course of the Crusades. With perceptive commentary regarding spiritual motivatings behind crusading and perspectives from contemporary Islamic sources, Asbridge constructs a comprehensive, sophisticated, and arresting analytical narrative rewarding to any level of historical interest, whether recreational or scholarly. –Gilbert Taylor

Review“Brilliant, authoritative, and accessible, Thomas Asbridge’s THE CRUSADES is a will have to read. Asbridge balances impeccable scholarship with a gifted storyteller’s engaging voice. He vividly portrays the driving forces and personalities, the perspectives of Christians and Muslims, and the bequest of the Crusades in Christian and Muslim history and imagination.” (Professor John L. Esposito, Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, and author of The Future of Islam. )

“A genuinely comprehensive history of holy war in the Holy Land. Emphasizing the dramatic Third Crusade and it is heroic antagonists, Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, the narrative reads like an adventure story, even though one that is both factual and instructive.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

About the Author

Thomas Asbridge is Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London, and the author of The First Crusade. He lives in England.

Most helpful customer reviews

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful.
Outstanding Volume
By Nicholas Busby
First and foremost, The Crusades is a great read. From page one, it pulls you in with a narrative that reads more like a great adventure novel than true history. I for one, did not know much about the Crusades prior to this. As i progressed, I found myself investigating more and more details from other sources to further gain insight into the battles and backstory. That is not to say there are not plenty of details in the book as it is. It is very rich. The way Asbridge divided up each piece of the story really worked to make the journey concise, literate and educational. For a fan of history, The Crusades is as good as it gets.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
The best one-volume history of The Crusades I’ve yet read
By Shawn M. Ritchie
A good, readable history of The Crusades has escaped me to this point, for whatever reason. I was very excited when Tynerman’s God’s War was released a few years ago, and quickly became disenchanted when I tried slogging through it and realized what a boringly-written brick it was. Couldn’t finish it. Runciman’s classic volumes, which have been the definitive essential reading for half a century now, are still valid, entertaining reads but have been long since over-taken by newer evidence and much fresher, more-encompassing interpretations. As a read, they’re still great fun. As good history, they’re quite biased and lacking today.

So, when I saw a shiny new tome promising a complete revisiting of long-held assumptions, I couldn’t resist. Asbridge’s chronology is straightforward; starting with a quick survey of Islam’s rise and subsequent takeover of the Christian Holy Land, he moves to Europe to set the scene of the medieval papacy and nascent western kingships that would bring about the concept of Crusading. In a nice touch, he continues to revisit the contemporary meanings, definitions and assumptions behind crusading as it developed from an event without even a name (“crusading” was a later appellation) to the currently-understood form. From these basics, he moves us through each of the main five Crusades, deftly describing the expected peoples, places, and battles. He strikes a good balance between talking about the most important figures and key battles versus the less-glamorous but as-important topics such as trade and societal makeup that, while harder to make exciting, are very important when trying to gain a full understanding of the events.

Very crucially, he spends as much time covering the Arab viewpoint as he does the Christian. He also properly gives notice to the fact that, while western sources are fairly voluminous by the standards of the era, the Crusades just didn’t have a major impact on the Muslim world at the time, and therefore sources from the Muslim POV are much less available. That said, he does an admirable job of situating the reader as best he can in the Muslim frame of mind during each crusade, giving admirable detail on outside pressures that might’ve existed, any internal dynastic or civil events that had bearing on their interactions with the Crusaders… other histories I’ve read of this era often fall flat in this particular regard.

He closes with an excellent overview of how the Crusades have themselves been viewed throughout history, both in the West and in the Muslim World; this may have been my favorite part of the book as it’s not a topic I’ve ever seen covered before, much less so well.

The writing style is nice and lively as well. It reads almost like a strong historical fiction narrative, a testament not only to the author’s skill but to the inherent drama of the period.

BOTTOM LINE: This will be my only answer for anyone asking for a recommendation on the period for probably years to come.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent Historical Work
By Kevin Brown
The Crusades is a fine historical work. It lacks some of the detail of the author’s earlier work (The First Crusade) but it also covers a much longer time frame. I really enjoyed the in-depth personal accounts of the historical figures in the earlier book that are somewhat lacking in this work. I also feel that the author doesn’t spend enough time on the importance of the Military Orders (Templars and Hospitallers). However the author does spend a great deal of time examining broader cultural issues which more than make up for a certain lack of insight into individual personalities. The author spends a significant amont of time assessing changing viewpoints over historical periods (i.e. does Richard Lionheart deserve to be considered a hero, was Saladin a true believer in jihad or a political opportunist, etc.) I enjoyed the analysis which is thought provoking and well researched. I highly recommend both works.