Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Stuttgart Klett-Cotta 2015
Description
History. Nonfiction. HTML: The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridgeâ??a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker)â??covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, readable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history. From Richard the Lionheart to the mighty Saladin, from the emperors of Byzantium to the Knights Templar, Asbridge's book is a magnificent epic of Holy War between the Christian and Islamic worlds, full of adventure, intrigue, and sweeping grandeur
User reviews
LibraryThing member GeoKaras
A superior history of the Crusading era, balanced and insightful. It is also a useful curative to false and mythic beliefs about the Crusades, perpetrated by less careful historians, popular culture and the propgandists of modern conflicts.
LibraryThing member Helen.Callaghan
Signed with the Cross - "The Crusades" by Thomas Asbridge
location: London
mood: impressed
music: Toxic Valentine - All Time Low
I've frequently whinged about the rather dispiriting lack of anything resembling a proper popular cultural history of the Middle Ages. There's loads of great Tudor era
I had of course done some reading on the Crusades just out of general interest before I started writing Sleepwalker (they'd been a matter of personal fascination to me since I'd visited Jerusalem as a student), and I'd particularly enjoyed The New Knighthood by Malcolm Barber, the multi-volume History of the Crusades by Steve Runciman, and also the very populist but no less fun and interesting The Crusades by Alan Ereira and Terry Jones.
So I was happy to get a chance to look at Thomas Asbridge's forthcoming book The Crusades (published by Simon and Schuster, who very kindly set me up with access to an except), and I was very glad I bothered. It proved a fast and yet authoritative read and distinguished itself on two fronts - through the device of giving equal time and consideration to the Muslim view of events (Saladin's tactics are analysed and critiqued - it's clear that Asbridge feels that it's a downhill slide for the Islamic champion after Hattin) and the book also offers more than a passing treatment of what it might actually be like to be fighting in the Siege of Acre.
Though bound to be a straightforward military history by its very nature, it's actually spiked through with lively storytelling and wonderful anecdotes, such as the scandalised Muslim historian reporting on "300 young and lovely Frankish maidens" who arrive to earn a living servicing the Crusaders (and, it is implied, Muslims) besieging Acre, who "brought their silver anklets up to touch their golden earrings [and:] made themselves targets for men’s darts". Ingenious jihadis get a supply ship to the beleaguered city of Acre by shaving their beards off and filling the decks with pigs and crosses, fooling the Christian sailors manning the cordon. An emir caught transporting the hated and feared "Greek Fire" (which features in Sleepwalker, so I was delighted to see it) is captured trying to get into the city, and a Latin knight ‘stretched him out on the ground, emptying the contents of the phial on his private parts, so that his genitals were burned’.
But it's not all (admittedly grisly) fun and games: there is also the horror of starvation, disease, of being surrounded by rotting corpses which are constantly being replenished with fresh ones to the tune of up to 200 a day.
There's also a very human treatment of the main actors - Saladin is passionate, determined, but maybe a little too cautious; Richard the Lionheart is flamboyant, canny, and vain, but capable of ruthless acts of massacre. The use of evidence, historical context, and personal supposition is mingled convincingly and their characterisations drawn with an elegant economy of language. The political history is delivered with the same sprightly verve as the military history, and from the point of view of an interested amateur, this treatment worked well for me.
Apparently the word "crusader" comes from the Latin portmanteau crucesignatus - "signed by the Cross". One can forward social and political reasons that render the Crusades a matter of mere expediency, but those reasons on their own are insufficient - ultimately the genesis of the Crusades is ideological. Sadly, in the last couple of decades, the Crusades and their troubling questions of religious fanaticism and grasping political adventurism are closer in spirit to us than they have ever been. Asbridge's accessible and above all humane take on them is thus an entirely welcome approach to this very topical subject.
location: London
mood: impressed
music: Toxic Valentine - All Time Low
I've frequently whinged about the rather dispiriting lack of anything resembling a proper popular cultural history of the Middle Ages. There's loads of great Tudor era
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material, but not much from earlier. I have my much-loved copy of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer, which is an utter life-saver, but unfortunately it concentrates on the Fourteenth Century, and the character in Sleepwalker is actually from the Thirteenth. Furthermore, he's a Crusader; specifically a Knight Templar. I had of course done some reading on the Crusades just out of general interest before I started writing Sleepwalker (they'd been a matter of personal fascination to me since I'd visited Jerusalem as a student), and I'd particularly enjoyed The New Knighthood by Malcolm Barber, the multi-volume History of the Crusades by Steve Runciman, and also the very populist but no less fun and interesting The Crusades by Alan Ereira and Terry Jones.
So I was happy to get a chance to look at Thomas Asbridge's forthcoming book The Crusades (published by Simon and Schuster, who very kindly set me up with access to an except), and I was very glad I bothered. It proved a fast and yet authoritative read and distinguished itself on two fronts - through the device of giving equal time and consideration to the Muslim view of events (Saladin's tactics are analysed and critiqued - it's clear that Asbridge feels that it's a downhill slide for the Islamic champion after Hattin) and the book also offers more than a passing treatment of what it might actually be like to be fighting in the Siege of Acre.
Though bound to be a straightforward military history by its very nature, it's actually spiked through with lively storytelling and wonderful anecdotes, such as the scandalised Muslim historian reporting on "300 young and lovely Frankish maidens" who arrive to earn a living servicing the Crusaders (and, it is implied, Muslims) besieging Acre, who "brought their silver anklets up to touch their golden earrings [and:] made themselves targets for men’s darts". Ingenious jihadis get a supply ship to the beleaguered city of Acre by shaving their beards off and filling the decks with pigs and crosses, fooling the Christian sailors manning the cordon. An emir caught transporting the hated and feared "Greek Fire" (which features in Sleepwalker, so I was delighted to see it) is captured trying to get into the city, and a Latin knight ‘stretched him out on the ground, emptying the contents of the phial on his private parts, so that his genitals were burned’.
But it's not all (admittedly grisly) fun and games: there is also the horror of starvation, disease, of being surrounded by rotting corpses which are constantly being replenished with fresh ones to the tune of up to 200 a day.
There's also a very human treatment of the main actors - Saladin is passionate, determined, but maybe a little too cautious; Richard the Lionheart is flamboyant, canny, and vain, but capable of ruthless acts of massacre. The use of evidence, historical context, and personal supposition is mingled convincingly and their characterisations drawn with an elegant economy of language. The political history is delivered with the same sprightly verve as the military history, and from the point of view of an interested amateur, this treatment worked well for me.
Apparently the word "crusader" comes from the Latin portmanteau crucesignatus - "signed by the Cross". One can forward social and political reasons that render the Crusades a matter of mere expediency, but those reasons on their own are insufficient - ultimately the genesis of the Crusades is ideological. Sadly, in the last couple of decades, the Crusades and their troubling questions of religious fanaticism and grasping political adventurism are closer in spirit to us than they have ever been. Asbridge's accessible and above all humane take on them is thus an entirely welcome approach to this very topical subject.
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LibraryThing member Hae-Yu
In a footnote to the intro, Mr. Asbridge states his intention of writing a fact-based book with careful effort to remove bias. I find Mr. Asbridge's single volume history on the Crusades to be remarkably even-handed. The author did not have any apparent anti-Western Western academic bias nor did he
The author paid careful attention to the player's motives. While those who enjoy history as enacted by larger-than-life caricatures may be disappointed, I found the portraits painted to be well-rounded and human. Asbridge did not cynically dismiss the players' professed spiritual motivations nor did he neglect other temporal and political motivations. Great players such as Saladin, Baybars, Frederick II, and Richard the Lion-Hearted rise and fall on their own merits without help from the historian. Motivations of individuals and groups are well-treated and in the context of their actions and contemporary sources.
Another reviewer stated that Mr. Asbridge's writing tended to be self-congratulatory at the expense of other historians. I did not get this. With a stated intent of clearing distortions and myth, Mr. Asbridge does discuss and challenge other perceptions; however, I believe these were not handled arrogantly.
Because this book is more socio-political, I do not believe the military buff will enjoy this book as much as those looking for a clear overview of the Crusades in the Near East. However, for military buffs just discovering the Crusades, this book provides an excellent springboard and context for more detailed reading.
The extensive notes provide an invaluable reference for further reading and exploration, most of which are considered authoritative in their own right. The writing is clear and the narrative flows well. Mr. Asbridge is clearly an authority on the Crusades; I expect to find this book referenced in many future volumes.
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show any apparent Western enculturation bias.The author paid careful attention to the player's motives. While those who enjoy history as enacted by larger-than-life caricatures may be disappointed, I found the portraits painted to be well-rounded and human. Asbridge did not cynically dismiss the players' professed spiritual motivations nor did he neglect other temporal and political motivations. Great players such as Saladin, Baybars, Frederick II, and Richard the Lion-Hearted rise and fall on their own merits without help from the historian. Motivations of individuals and groups are well-treated and in the context of their actions and contemporary sources.
Another reviewer stated that Mr. Asbridge's writing tended to be self-congratulatory at the expense of other historians. I did not get this. With a stated intent of clearing distortions and myth, Mr. Asbridge does discuss and challenge other perceptions; however, I believe these were not handled arrogantly.
Because this book is more socio-political, I do not believe the military buff will enjoy this book as much as those looking for a clear overview of the Crusades in the Near East. However, for military buffs just discovering the Crusades, this book provides an excellent springboard and context for more detailed reading.
The extensive notes provide an invaluable reference for further reading and exploration, most of which are considered authoritative in their own right. The writing is clear and the narrative flows well. Mr. Asbridge is clearly an authority on the Crusades; I expect to find this book referenced in many future volumes.
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LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
This is an excellent, readable history of the Crusades. It interweaves the story from the European and Muslim points of view. One of its great successes is that it does this without overt bias or descending into bland patronising blandness.
Mr. Asbridge is a lecturer in Medieval History and it
I learned so much about the Crusades and the history of Europe from this book. It is well worth the read.
Mr. Asbridge is a lecturer in Medieval History and it
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shows; not in a teacher to pupil style but in a complete understanding of his subject. The book is a serious historical exploration but he manages to lighten it with amusing details - the knight who nearly took a spear ina painful place whilst answering a call of nature. Louis XI, who had dysentery so badly that his servant had to insert a well positioned hole in his breaches....I learned so much about the Crusades and the history of Europe from this book. It is well worth the read.
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LibraryThing member stillatim
I was surprised at this one. Asbridge writes perfectly clear sentences, the kind of thing I would read in a student's paper and give bonus marks for, while also cautioning them that some thoughts do require something beyond this kind of prose. The good news is that this makes the book perfectly
Cons: since there's no variation in prose style, the battle narratives get a little tedious. How many times can a leader be indecisive? How many times can they do something that in hindsight isn't really the right thing? Seemingly every time. That's fine, that's what they did; but devoting the same amount of time to every single feint and mistake makes this much, much longer than it needs to be. Also, the conclusion is just weird. After saying a bunch of really sensible things (nobody should use the Crusades as ideological fodder for their own idiotic purposes), he then claims that they do have a lesson to teach us: they show how faith and ideology can "elicit violent discord" and that "commercial interests" can "transcend the barriers of conflict." Certainly. But this is just using the Crusades for your own idiotic purposes: different wars will show that commercial interests can elicit violent discord (hello, imperialism) and faith and ideology can transcend the barriers of conflict (see the ecumenical efforts of the twentieth century). In short, commercial interests are just another kind of faith/ideology, and one which revels in destroying traditions and ideals. At least religious and ideological faiths *could* provide us with a way to actually transcend conflict, rather than just transcending it in our own self-interest (hello, corporations who 'transcend' conflict all the time by getting in bed with dictators, tyrants, etc etc...)
As a side note, it's nice to see someone willing to just go balls to the wall and claim that they're written "the authoritative" history of something. So tired of 'a history of...' style, it's all just perspective, I wouldn't want to make any definitive claims nonsense. Bravo.
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readable; the bad news is that, well, it isn't Gibbon or even D. MacCulloch level prose. But it gets maximum marks for user-friendliness. Cons: since there's no variation in prose style, the battle narratives get a little tedious. How many times can a leader be indecisive? How many times can they do something that in hindsight isn't really the right thing? Seemingly every time. That's fine, that's what they did; but devoting the same amount of time to every single feint and mistake makes this much, much longer than it needs to be. Also, the conclusion is just weird. After saying a bunch of really sensible things (nobody should use the Crusades as ideological fodder for their own idiotic purposes), he then claims that they do have a lesson to teach us: they show how faith and ideology can "elicit violent discord" and that "commercial interests" can "transcend the barriers of conflict." Certainly. But this is just using the Crusades for your own idiotic purposes: different wars will show that commercial interests can elicit violent discord (hello, imperialism) and faith and ideology can transcend the barriers of conflict (see the ecumenical efforts of the twentieth century). In short, commercial interests are just another kind of faith/ideology, and one which revels in destroying traditions and ideals. At least religious and ideological faiths *could* provide us with a way to actually transcend conflict, rather than just transcending it in our own self-interest (hello, corporations who 'transcend' conflict all the time by getting in bed with dictators, tyrants, etc etc...)
As a side note, it's nice to see someone willing to just go balls to the wall and claim that they're written "the authoritative" history of something. So tired of 'a history of...' style, it's all just perspective, I wouldn't want to make any definitive claims nonsense. Bravo.
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LibraryThing member JHemlock
One of the most believable volumes on the subject I have ever read. Mr. Asbridge paints a believable picture and allows the reader to deduce the situation and make their own judgment.
LibraryThing member Rose999
It was a pretty dry read I admit, but it seemed well researched, putting 200 years of history in one book isn't easy, there was too many things to cover and it managed very well, it was dry yeah but not redundant.
The book tells the story from the Muslim and Christian POV, changing it up every few
It's a good overview, not good if you are especially interested in one side or one crusade, but for the general idea or an introduction is great.
The book tells the story from the Muslim and Christian POV, changing it up every few
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chapters, this is good since it gives such a wide view of what happened and doesn't demonize any side but since it tries to tell 200 years and from both sides I did feel that some parts were kind of glossed over, of course you can't help that, the book is already 680 pages long and probably could have been 10 times that with enough detail.It's a good overview, not good if you are especially interested in one side or one crusade, but for the general idea or an introduction is great.
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010
ISBN
9783608949216