The Crusades, Ess1

Get The Crusades, Ess1

The Crusades
(Essential Stories 1)

Author: David Nicolle

Paperback; January 2001; 96 pages

About this book:
Born amid immense suffering and bloodshed, the Kingdom of Jerusalem remained a battleground for nearly 200 years. The Crusades gave rise to the military orders of the Templars and Hospitallers, and provided the backdrop to the careers of some of history’s most famous leaders, including Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. At times, the Crusaders’ savagery left their opponents reeling, creating friction that survived for more than 700 years. At the same time, as this book richly illustrates, art, architecture, and learning all benefited from the new knowledge the Crusaders brought back from the East.

David nicolle:
Born in 1944, David Nicolle worked in the BBC's Arabic service for several years before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He has written numerous books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years.

Content:
# Introduction
# Timeline
# Background to the war: Christianity and Islam in the 11th century
# Warring factions: Byzantines, Turks, Crusaders and Saracens
# Outbreak: The First Crusade
# The battles: crusade and jihad
# Portrait of a soldier: brothers in arms - two crusaders - two fursan
# The world around the war: the impact of the crusades in the Mediterranean and beyond
# Portrait of a civilian: a saint, a lady, a rabbi and a scholar
# How the war ended: The rise of the Mamluks and the fall of the Crusader state
# Conclusion and consequences: the failure of an idea and the rebirth of Islamic expansion