This is the up-to-date, authoritative history of the Crusades from the First Crusade in 1096 to the fall of the last Crusader kingdom - Malta - in 1798. In 1095, Pope Urban II granted absolution to anyone who would fight to reclaim the Holy Land. With God at their backs, the first Christian crusaders embarked on an unprecedented religious war. While addressing the contribution of flamboyant characters like Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, Malcolm Billings also looks at the experiences of the peasants, knights and fighting monks who took the cross for Christendom and the Holy Warriors of Islam who, after battle on battle, emerged victorious. He analyses the ebb and flow of crusade and counter-crusade, and details the shifting structures of government in the Levant, which became the perennial battleground of East and West.

About the Author
Malcolm Billings has been closely associated with history and archaeology throughout his career. He has written and produced many documentaries on history and archaeology for BBC Radio and has published several books including The English: The Making of a Nation from 430-1700 and London: A Companion to its History and Archaeology. He is a Middle East foreign radio correspondent for the BBC and knows all to well the connections between the Crusades of the Middle Ages and their interpretation today by extremist Muslims.

Reviews
"'Demonstrates that one can write in the light of the most recent research without losing excitement and colour... a story which has everything that has always made it so exciting for the general reader: warfare; exploration; western medieval castles in the desert and on Syrian and Greek mountain ranges; heroism alternating with acts of revolting cruelty' PROFESSOR JONATHAN RILEY-SMITH, University of Cambridge."



Book Information
ISBN 9780752429748
Author Malcolm Billings
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint The History Press Ltd
Publisher The History Press Ltd
Weight(grams) 340g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 10mm