Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands

A very good read, thorough enough for the above average reader or academic. Combines the history & stories of the Christians, early successes, Muslims and the capture of Jerusalem, and even the end of the Western expansion of the Mongols. Get it. You’ll eventually get through it and enjoy it.

History, genealogy

By focusing on the stories behind individual crusaders author had found and easy fun way of teaching us about the crusadesMy personal favorite is the girl who manned the ramparts in Jerusalem wearing a borrowed mail and cooking pot on her head as a helmet incredibly she survived the situation to tell the taleVery good book on the subject

Laid bare the true origins of the crusades. Brought all of the important characters to life. Recommended to anyone interested in medieval history.

Very interesting. Book is overall well researched and well written

If you want to read an opinionated and woke history of the crusades, this is the book for you. Throughout the book, are slanted opinions, such as: A) "The slaughter of Jerusalem in the days following its fall to the crusaders was one of the atrocities of its age"; B) The call of Pope Urban II to take back the Holy Land would "warp the course of history"; C) the gold coins struck at Baghdad's mint were "elegant"; D) the city of Toledo "replete under Islamic rule with fine bridges and public baths, marketplaces and mosques"; E) the Umayyad caliphate's city of Cordoba was "one of the most sophisticated, awe-inspiring metropolises in the entire world, while artisans and architects tested the boundaries of artistic perfection"; The author insults the reader's intelligence by mentioning no less than 3 times by the end of the first chapter, that Roger of Sicily had a gas problem. I did not buy this book to read about someone's flatulence, but it seems to me that this is what he wants the readers to take away with them. And lastly, in the epilogue, I also find it insulting that the author spends the good part of 2 pages writing about the attack that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, but allotted merely 4 lines to the September 11th attacks. If he did not want to use the September 11th attacks as an example, there are any number of of attacks that have taken place in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and of course the USA, such as shootings, stabbings, beheadings, bombings, and drivers using their vehicles as weapons by driving through large gatherings of civilians. But I digress. I will give credit where credit is due. The book is thoroughly researched and well-organized. Names of people and places, dates of events, relations of monarchs/lords/etc., and quotes from old texts/letters...........all are presented in a smooth-flowing chronological order. If the author did not give his biased opinion, I would have rated the book higher, and I might have actually purchased further books of his. I do not purchase history books to read an author's opinion, nor do I find it endearing when the author thinks his readers are idiots.

Hard to keep track of all the characters.

This book is probably the most bipartisan book on the crusades I've ever read. Dan Jones pulls no punches in telling it like it was without making anyone or any group of people out to be the sole heroes or the sole villians.As in all of his books he makes history entertaining, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable to read. I like that he didn't restrict himself or his readers just to the "holy" land but took us all over Europe and the near East and he didn't stop at the fall of Jerusalem and call it a day, but went farther and even brought it to a soft conclusion in the modern day. He also gave us just enough peripheral information to understand an event without going off on a tanget.I saw no leftist agenda anywhere in the book as other reviewers have said and I'd fully recommend this book to anyone

This is a well-written book. The narrative is mostly transparent and well-organised. However, it has a relativist/apologist tone which detracts from its usefulness as an account of the crusader era. The author judges the actions of the people he describes in 21st-century terms. He fails to point out the literal, manichean view of the world which informed Islam and Christianity between the 11th and 15th centuries. He also displays timidity in his descriptions - for example, he is content to describe Christians as "greedy" but desists from using similar descriptions of Muslims. Additionally, his use of present-day geographical terms - France, Germany - is anti-historical and imprecise.

I actually used this book for university, where we are studying Early Medieval Religion right across Europe. I needed to choose a good book, and based on my knowledge of Dan Jones and his narrative skills, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. Fro an academic angle, the book is extremely well-researched with a wealth of primary source material from all sides of the conflict, whether Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic or Jewish. Dan Jones doesn't forget to include women and civilians involved in the conflict. What Jones is a genius at doing is to wear his knowledge lightly - he does not allow th weight of his scholarship to get in the way of the excellent entertainment that we have from the stories he tells. He balances the desire for a good yarn with the historian's need to look at events from all angles. Thus the general reader and the historian alike will enjoy this list of colourful historical characters affected somehow by this misinterpretation of Urban's call to defend their brother Christians in Constantinople at the end of the 11th century.

This is a very fine history of the crusades. It is a brilliant narrative history of a subject that many historians have tackled, but what makes this book different is the author's approach to this vast subject. He uses exciting 'episodes' from the period to relate the events of the crusades, describing the people who were involved in a manner that breathes life into them. They are not dull characters in a history book but real people(Muslim or Christian or even Mongol). One of the most enjoyable histories of the crusades I have read.

Dan Jones gives us here what is a great overview for the crusading period of history, something which involved the European Christian countries against the Muslims, and a part of history that many of us find fascinating. Of course, to say this was a period of Christianity against Islam is very simplistic, and thankfully the author does not shy away, and so gives us an insight into the nuances and atrocities of both religious groups. When you think about it the known world at the time was relatively stable as things go, and then things started to get slightly complicated, what with the Church starting to stir things up.I have studied this period before and so I do know what sorts of things this book should include, and I can say that the author has done a very good job. Obviously in just one volume there has to be a lot of pairing down to make people interested in reading this and wanting to know more, so this does a good job in getting people interested in this period, and hopefully inspiring them to continue with their studies of this particular time, or indeed other parts of history. Taking in the major players, from popes, to monarchs and heads of state so we also get to hear from those who were in minor capacities, such as some of the other crusaders, and even a woman who ended up getting caught up in a siege.On one side you have infighting, powerplays and strife within the Muslim states, and on the other side you have the same amongst the Christian states, as greed, power and other elements come into play. This gives us then an exciting read taking in all the facets, and with different sides helping or obstructing not only the opposite side, but their own, as things got messy. Taking in the different crusades and reminding us all that these were not necessarily outside Europe, or indeed just against Muslims, so we can see why this period of time was so precarious, and we are also reminded of the anti-Semitism that always seemed to rage when a crusade was called, although it was not the Jews that were supposed to be the enemy, they were just supposed to be converted to Christianity.I liked the way that Mr Jones keeps this balanced, after all atrocities were committed on both sides and really you can forget about the religious aspect, because the main players were more interested in money and power, giving themselves more prestige and influence elsewhere. As we are shown in the conclusion to this, although the crusades finished long ago, and with the discovery of the New World with its riches and people to exploit so no one was really that interested in the Middle East so much, this does not stop certain elements of society trying to use the propaganda and imagery from the past to keep the vast majority of us just going innocently and quietly about our lives. As the author points out, in our current society, crusaders and jihadists are only being kept alive by the far-right on both sides so that they can keep hate alive, and as with the original wars, to make some money.

A stimulating, very engaging study of the people who made the crusades happen. It sits very well alongside books which tell the story but miss the focus on the people. It lends itself well to being read aloud; the audiobook is excellent. I was left with a better understanding of what motivated the different players in this long drama and look forward to reading further studies of the crusades.That has to be a very positive review - a very satisfying read that makes you want to read more on the subject.