The Crusaders were right after all

London Telegraph ^ | May 4, 2005 | Chris Howse

[Toirdhealbheach Beucail]

I have read a number of Crusade books over the years, and Runciman's triology is the best I've seen - The Crusades: A Short History by Jonathan Riley-Smith is better for a view of the Crusades as a Pan European movement, but he is not near the storyteller Ruciman is.

As an aside, Runciman was also the general editor of an excellent atlas on the Crusades.

Deus le volt!

[WFTR]

What's the difference between Madden's first book and the revised edition? I've read the original. Is the revised different enough to be worth reading?

[Incorrigible]

I read the original but it took Amazon weeks and weeks to get it to me since it was out of print. I haven't read the revised but it looks like it's easier to get.

[537cant be wrong]

yes he is but he was soooo cool as legalis the elf in lord of the rings.

[solitas]

The Monty Python school of history paints any knight as a murderous mercenary.

We're Knights of the Round Table,
We dance when ere we're able,
We do routines and chorus scenes
With footwork impeccable.
We dine well here in Camelot,
We eat ham and jam and spam a lot.

We're Knights of the Round Table,
Our shows are formidable.
But many times, we're given rhymes
That are quite unsingable.
We're Opera mad in Camelot,
We sing from the diaphragma looooooot.

In war we're tough and able,
Quite indefatigable,
Between our quests we sequin vests,
And impersonate Clark Gable.
It's a busy life in Camelot -

I have to push the pram a lot.

[RichInOC]

...on second thought, let us not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

[RichInOC]

That said, the new stage version with Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce sounds promising.

[solitas]

Whoops! Almost forgot: a link to the LEGO movie!

[Marie Antoinette]

Self ping to find later.

Would this book be okay for pre-teens? We homeschool...

[jordan8]

The Knights Templar, Mark I Mod 0 - Christians you could respect.

[what's up]

About Richard I...I heard that the homosexual thing was a huge fabrication. As far as I understood, he did share the King of France's bed...but only on one occasion. And back then it was common for men to sleep in the same bed when on the road. For example at inns they would pay for a bed and often have to sleep alongside a stranger.

I never heard of Richard I acting girly. I would like to know what original source documents actually cite his homosexuality. My suspicion is that this is a fable cooked up by the NAMBLA crowd...you know, the ones who are now trying to get people to believe that Abe Lincoln was gay.

[de Buillion]

So, are you recommending this book, or just throwing it out there as a source of info or what? I could not get any info from Amazon.

[de Buillion]

"I find another interesting historic battler of Islam to be Vlad the Impaler."

I believe that the MOST succesful muslim fighter was Ghengis Khan, around 12xx. He really knew how to control islamics. The muslims have not yet recovered from him.

[Incorrigible]

The book does get into some battle tactics but does not go into the gore of the battles. This is however a history book and despite the "concise" in the title, this is over 200 fairly dense, small type, info-packed pages.

Looking back at my Jesuit High School education, I would think this more appropriate for a 15 year old but your students may be more advanced.

BTW, do you leave only the cake for your students to eat?

[Incorrigible]

So, are you recommending this book, or just throwing it out there as a source of info or what? I could not get any info from Amazon.

I am in fact recommending this book.  The original version of the book has more reader comments than the revised but the original is no longer in print.

Here's a link to the original.  Scroll down for reader reviews.

A Concise History of the Crusades

[de Buillion]

Thank you very much for this link, I will try it-(my computer is not well, when I try a link to another site, I frequently get shut down by IE6).

[mowkeka]

Ping for later.

[Wneighbor]

I believe that the MOST succesful muslim fighter was Ghengis Khan, around 12xx. He really knew how to control islamics. The muslims have not yet recovered from him.

You are so right! Why just last Saturday he was on my list of all-time favorite generals over in the Freeper Foxhole and I didn't even have that reason on the list of whys! Good job Ghengis!

[buwaya]

It was in "Warriors of God" by Reston. This is a pretty good book - reads like a novel actually, and is a bit PC. It relies to some degree on Arab sources for instance. But it expands on things mentioned by, say, Oldenbourg too, like the strange fact that the Christian armies of the third crusade included some women warriors, noted for bravery at Acre, and a couple of which were captured by the Saracens. Its kind of hard to imagine that, but several chroniclers said so apparently.

I understand that Richard actually made documented confessions as to his proclivities, and at one point promised, in writing, to "sin no more" in this regard.