A History of the Crusades
A History of the Crusades
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Sir Steven Runciman's three volume A History of the Crusades, one of the great classics of English historical writing, is now being reissued. This volume describes the Frankish states of Outremer from the accession of King Baldwin I to the re-conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. As Runciman says in his preface, 'The politics of the Moslem world in the early twelfth-century defy straightforward analysis, but they must be understood if we are to understand the establishment of the Crusader states and the later causes of the recovery of Islam … The main theme in this volume is warfare … I have followed the example of the old chroniclers, who knew their business; for war was the background to life in Outremer and the hazards of the battlefield often decided its destiny.'
Reviews & endorsements
'I do not know when, in recent years, I have read a book which so enlarged my knowledge of and interest in a period of history … It sets before us one of the formidable moral and romantic epics of our time, with scholarship and imagination worthy of it.' The Times Literary Supplement
'The three volumes ring with battle trumpets and drums, glitter with the splendor of noble parades, and are replete with true stories of bravery and cowardliness, rash daring and wily intrigue … To the specialist (Runicman) offers a wealth of new interpretations … To the layman, he tenders romance and suspense at nearly every page.' The Yale Review
' … the best scholarly survey of the subject by a single author. It will always remain the first considerable work of its kind in the English language.' The English Historical Review
'One of the grand historical monuments of the twentieth century … Written with imagination and based on immense scholarship, (the volumes) are filled with true stories of rash daring and wily intrigue as the flower of Western knighthood assaults the infidel East for God, gold and glory.' Washington Post Book World
Product details
- Published: January 1952
- Format: Hardback
- ISBN: 9780521061629
- Length: 535 pages
- Dimensions: 224 × 34 × 147 mm
- Weight: 0.761kg
- Availability: Unavailable - out of print March 2003
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Table of Contents
- List of plates
- List of maps
- Preface
- 1. The establishment of the kingdom
- 2. The zenith
- 3. The second crusade
- 4. The turn of the tide
- 5. The triumph of Islam
- Bibliography
- Index.
- Show more
