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Nine hundred years ago, European history was transformed when the Pope summoned a vast Christian army to seize Jerusalem. For the next two centuries, Christians and Muslims would be locked in deadly combat over possession of a city both revered as a holy place. In this fast-paced narrative history, Thomas Asbridge tells the story of the chillingly brutal wars known as the Crusades.
For the first time, Asbridge examines the Crusades from the perspective of both religious groups, unveiling a world of heroes, assassins, poet-warriors, and spiritual visionaries. From Richard the Lionheart to Saladin and from the forests of Lebanon to the deserts of Egypt, The Crusades reveals the horror, passion, and barbaric grandeur of this brutal era and how its events continue to affect world politics today. Thomas Asbridge is the author of The First Crusade: A New History, which was published to wide acclaim. He is a professor of medieval history at the University of London. “Brilliant, authoritative, and accessible, Thomas Asbridge’s The Crusades is a must read.” — Professor John L. Esposito, author of The Future of IslamFrom a renowned 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—both firm in the belief that they were at God's work—fought for dominion of the Holy Land, clashing in a succession of chillingly brutal wars: the Crusades.
For the first time, this book tells the story of that epic struggle from the perspective of both Christians and Muslims. A vivid and fast-paced narrative history, it exposes the full horror, passion, and barbaric grandeur of the Crusading era, leading us into a world of legendary champions—such as Richard the Lionheart and Saladin—shadowy Assassins, poet-warriors, and pious visionaries; across the desert sands of Egypt to the verdant forests of Lebanon; and through the ancient cities of Constantinople, Cairo, and Damascus.
Drawing on painstaking original research and an intimate knowledge of the Near East, Thomas Asbridge uncovers what drove Muslims and Christians alike to embrace the ideals of jihad and crusade, revealing how these holy wars reshaped the medieval world and why they continue to influence events today.
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