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The Oxford Illustrated History of
the Crusades  Jonathan
Riley-Smith (Editor)
Oxford University Press Inc, 1997, 472pp
ISBN: 0192852949
List price: $24.95, £15.00 (paperback)
From the Cover:
This richly illustrated book presents a readable, authoritative, and
comprehensive history of the Crusades, from the preaching of the First Crusade in 1095 to
the legacy of crusading ideals and imagery today. Written by a team of leading Crusade
scholars, it covers crusading in many different theatres of war. The ideas of apologists,
propagandists, and poets, and the perceptions and motives of the crusaders themselves are
described, as are the reactions of the Muslims to Christian holy war. The book highlights
the remarkable art and architecture associated with the Crusades, and offers fascinating
insights into the history of the knightly orders, such as the Knights Templar and the
Knights of St John. The volume includes detailed reference material: maps, chronology, a
guide to further reading, and a full index. It will be welcomed by anyone interested in
the ideals and history of the Crusades.
The Times Literary Supplement Review:
{This is an} intelligently and sumptuously illustrated history. . . . In a collaborative
volume that freely calls on work beyond that of the writers themselves in attempting a
synthesis of current opinion, the contributors promote an impressively coherent vision. .
. . In a comprehensive work designed and priced for a wide readership, it is refreshing to
find so many experts. . . . Inevitably, not all the attempts at synthesis succeed. Some of
the descriptions of events are leaden or congested; others are only penetrable by those
withprior knowledge.
History Review:
The organization of the volume is excellent. . . . To include a chapter on Crusade Songs
was inspired. . . . The editor singles out Sir Steven Runciman's three-volume History of
the Crusades as the culmination of one phase of crusade historiography. In many ways, this
volume marks the culmination of another--the post-Runciman phase. . . . This volume
devotes almost as much attention to the crusade after 1291 as before. Its scope is much
broader {than Runciman's}. . . . The stuff of Runciman's History was provided by
chronicles. . . .The contributors to this volume rely much more on . . . literary texts
and legal and administrative documents. . . . They contribute their own immediacy. .. . It
is symptomatic . . . that there is no chapter on the achievements or the impact of the
crusade. . . . The volume closes with a fascinating chapter on the image of the crusades
in recent times, which underlines their enduring appeal and incidentally points to new and
fruitful avenues of research. All involved in this volume deserve heartiest thanks. |
Top Titles
General histories
Individual Crusades
Military Orders
Non-Christian Perspective
Background topics
Fiction
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