The Crusades: An Illustrated History

by James Harpur

Book Overview

This illustrated and comprehensive guide offers the history of the Crusades, both romanticized and real. Drawing on the latest scholarship, this book profiles this most turbulent time in world history... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560256990
• ISBN13: 9781560256991
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.0" x 10.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Primer on the Crusades

There are many excecptionally detailed books on the crusades, such as the one by Jonathan Riley-Smith, that go beyond broad military and religious topics to give a granular view of the crusades. The problem is that these books implicitly assume that one has a good grounding in the subject. So while they serve as excellent references on the crusades they are difficult places for the neophyte to begin. Enter James Harpur's "The Crusades: An Illustrated History". Although barely over 100 pages this book manages to cover all of the salient topics for crusades taking place during the time period 1095-1291. The illustrations are well chosen and include selections from illuminated pages, modern photographs, and late medieval drawings. Most valuable is the late 19th century map of "The World of the Crusades". I found myself constantly going back for a peek at it every 2-3 pages. Since the book's front cover has a sturdy overleaf that also serves as a place marker this was easily accomplished without losing my spot in the book. Harpur's style of writing is not overly simplistic. While this book is intended to be a primer it does have sidebars that give additional information on important people, events, and subjects. For example, there are sidebars on the Jewish massacres, Saint Francis, Frederick II, and holy relics, as well as numerous other topics of interest. Thus one comes away with a surprising amount of information given the book's brevity. I would have given this book five stars except that it lacked maps of the Latin east at various time points. In terms of "balance" Harpur is equitable in his praise and criticism of Christians and Muslims. This book is an enjoyable read and will no doubt impel its readers to tackle more in-depth treatises on the subject.