The Crusades: A History

by Jonathan Riley-Smith

Book Overview

Jonathan Riley-Smith here provides a comprehensive history of the Crusades: an account of the theology of violence behind the Crusades, the major Crusades, the experience of crusading, and the crusaders themselves. With a wealth of fascinating detail, Riley-Smith brings to life these stirring expeditions and the politics and personalities behind them. His book will be the standard and authoritative account of the Crusades for years to come.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300101287
• ISBN13: 9780300101287
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Well worth the reading.

This book covers all the known wars that can be called Crucades. Not only does the author cover the four most widely known crusades to the Holy Land by Western Europe but also some of the lesser known crusades. This book is very informative, well written and compiled with in a time line format. This book is well worth the time needed to read it. I lent my copy of it out to a student and never got it back so obviously he liked it too!

The Crusades made accessible to the general public

On an impulse I purchased this work by Jonathan Riley-Smith in early 2004. At first, although I found the content interesting and thorough, it did not engage my simple mind at the time which up until that point had been lulled into more of an escapist mode with works of science fiction. However, that was before the release of the popular cinematic event known as, 'The Kingdom of Heaven'. After its viewing I was concerned that the historical content of the feature film may not have been completely accurate. Therefore, I dusted off my copy of this book and began to read it avidly. Within its covers I was able to discover the true events before, during and after the fall of Jerusalem into the hands of Saladin in 1187. I became acquainted with the true characters of the First Crusade and with those that followed after. While the film previously mentioned tends to show bias and even gravely negative in its approach to the Templar knights in particular, the work here refutes any such fanciful history. Riley-Smith is even-handed in his approach to all participants in the many and various crusades showing partiality to none. Further, I appreciated the style with which Dr. Riley-Smith wrote his book. It flows easily so much so that it is fitting for, IMHO, readers aged 13 and older. This is by no means a children's book, however. Far from it in fact. I would encourage anyone with a genuine interest in the facts of the often misunderstood and misrepresented Crusades to acquaint yourself with this, in my opinion, essential work. Within its covers you will find that the initial motivations for the First Crusade centered around the threat of Muslim warriors on the Eastern borders of Christendom and the endangerment of pilgrimage routes to and from the Holy Land. Further, you will be introduced thoroughly into the motivations and to the growth of the only unitive authority of Western Europe at that time, the Catholic Church. Also, you will learn of the intrigue and political manueverings of the Byzantine emperors and the early Crusade leaders as they made their way into the disputed territories. After the fall of Jerusalem to the Franks you will learn how the Latin Kings maintained order giving to the rise of the military orders. Jonathan Riley-Smith does an excellent job of describing the fortunes and misfortunes of the Levantine society while surrounded by a growing threat from the east. He carries the reader easily through and explaining the events of the Crusades in all of their forms from the Latin liberation to the reconquest of Spain to the Balkan conquests and the efforts taken to preserve religious unity and order throughout Western civilization. Ample ink is also spilled concerning the reactions of the Muslims to the Crusaders including, in like manner, the political intriguies and motivations within the varied Muslim dynasties and camps. He shows in great detail that no one group was completely without error in the almost 800 ye

An up to date review of the history of the Crusades

The previous reviewer is far more interetested in anti-Catholic bigotry than in the current state of historical scholarship on the Crusades. Dr. Riley-Smith's book is up to date while the previous work of Runciman (and others) is considered passe by the professional historian. Unfortunately, people with an axe to grind rarely are interested in the facts when their cherished preconceptions are in jeopardy.Dr. Riley-Smith's book covers not only the medieval Crusades but also other religious wars in the later historic times. He demonstrates the complex motivations of the major figures in these various conflicts and shows that their primary concern had been religious, not economic or imperialistic. There is no "cover up" of some of the darker aspects of the Crusades, but Riley-Smith has a better understanding of the 'sitz im leben' of the Medieval world than many previous writers on this subject. Dr. Riley Smith is careful not to judge people from another time by modern standards. He dispels a number of myths that men like Runciman have unfortunately perpetuated.This is an excellent review book for the general topic of religious wars since the Middle Ages. For more information, see these books:The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Middle Ages Series)The First Crusaders, 1095-1131 What Were the Crusades? (Forthcoming)The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c. 1024 - c. 1198, Part 1 (Forthcoming)

Crossing the Line

The previous reviewer (Jarvis) dismisses this book as a text. I beg to disagree. For the serious reader of history this is undoubtedly a useful reference work, but I read the book as someone who dabbles a toe in the military history of different ages. I found this to be an accessible and informative work. It is a history, not a novel, and as a history it delivers a good meaty narrative backed up with in-depth analysis of events. Although it is called a concise history the book is by no means a concise work. It spans a period of hundreds of years of history and examines crusades that I never knew were crusades and some I never knew existed. I hadn't realised that the war in Spain between Christian and Moorish kings had achieved official papal crusade standard, and I was unaware of the crusades that were fought along the German borders throughout the period. I recommend this book to anyone who has a thirst for information on this period, drink deep from this well and be satisfied. This is one of those rare books that crosses the line between textbook and non-fiction.