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Victory in the East
A Military History of the First Crusade John
France
Cambridge University Press, 1994, 425pp
ISBN: 0521589878
List price: £24.99 (softback)
£50.00 (hardback)
The Crusades Bookstore Review:
Victory in the East is a splendid, comprehensive analysis of the First Crusade,
concentrating on the military aspects but also touching upon relevant aspects of the
political and cultural background. France aims to elucidate the reasons for the success of
the First Crusade, and to do this he combs the chronicles and traverses the route of the
crusaders, and comes to some novel and fascinating conclusions about the battles they
fought.
At times the book is heavy going. France has a tendency to get ahead of himself in the
narrative, and this can make it difficult to piece together the full story. However, this
hardly detracts from such a valuable work.
From the cover:
The success of the First Crusade, and its capture of Jerusalem in 1099, has been
conventionally explained by its ideological and political motivation. This book looks at
the First Crusade primarily as a military campaign and asks why it was so successful.
Modern writing about the Crusade has tended to emphasise the moral dimension and the
development of the idea of the crusade but its fate was ultimately decided on the field of
battle. This book looks at the nature of war at the end of the eleventh century and the
military experience of all the contending parties in order to explain its extraordinary
success. It is the first such examination, taking into account all other factors but
emphasising the military.
Review, Hugh Kennedy in the Times Literary Supplement:
... a major contribution ... France has done his fieldwork as well as reading the
chronicles; travelling the route of the First Crusade and visiting the main battelfields
... the book shows that scrupulously researched and intelligently written history can shed
light on many aspects of the First Crusade, and can be a delight to read in the process.
About the author:
John France is Senior Lecturer in history, University College of Swansea, UK. |
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