Crusades: The Illustrated History

Crusades: The Illustrated History
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Seeing is Perceiving

Beautiful and Informative!

Crusades: The Illustrated History

Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The New Concise History of the Crusades (Critical Issues in History)

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford Illustrated Histories)

The First Crusade: A New History: The Roots of Conflict between Christianity and Islam

Chronicles of the Crusades (Penguin Classics)

Arab Historians of the Crusades

ASIN: 0472031279

Book Description

An important, richly illustrated account of the struggle between Christianity and Islam in the Near East, and an essential guide to understanding many modern-day conflicts, from the Balkans and Lebanon to Palestine and the War on Terror

". . . the ideal volume for anyone with a desire to know more about the struggle between Christianity and Islam in the Near East. . . . Beautifully illustrated, this informative guide to the major Crusades not only clearly defines the conflict and traces the individual campaigns but also places in context the historical roots of the 21st century tensions between Islam and the West."
---Monterey County Herald

"The book is a model of organization and pertinent illustration, with maps, sidebars, a chronology and an accessible bibliography. Given so fine and comprehensive an introduction, readers are likely to turn to the classic prose narratives, both Christian and Islamic. They will also have a new appreciation of the current Christian-Islamic conflict and its many roots."
---ForeWord

"[Crusades] is attractively illustrated and has a great number of boxes and sidebars offering a more detailed examination of people and events that are mentioned in the main text. A useful introduction to the subject for students and interested readers alike, [and] a fine addition to both public and academic libraries."
---Library Journal

* Includes more than 150 photographs, maps, and specially commissioned artworks, all in full color

* With special features on a variety of key topics, from Jerusalem: City of Holy Places to the Glories of the Ottoman Empire

Customer Reviews:

Seeing is Perceiving.......2005-07-19

"Crusades - The Illustrated History," Thomas F. Madden, Editor, shares all the strengths of Madden's "Concise History of the Crusades." It is a refreshing and positive look at the falable but devoted knights and kings of Christendom who deeply desired to see the holy sites of Christianity delivered from the hands of their unbelieving conquerors. It is eminently fair in its approach to historical facts. It also incorporates much new knowledge of the period.

Besides being a facinating account of the period, it is a beautifully designed book. Its sections are broken up into short studies with rich colored illustrations. You can read it in short stages, and absorb the material at leisure. It also shares the strength of a perspective shared by several historians, so you are aware that the research is not just one man's ideas but the fruit of much fresh information.

This one is worth the money and time you will put into it.

Wm. H. Scarle, Jr. - BA, M.Div., Th.M - Tampa, FL

Beautiful and Informative!.......2005-06-03

This is a great introduction to the medieval Crusades with eye candy to boot! It's a very even keeled overview - without all the political biases that so often get in the way of explaining a subject objectively. This book educates the reader on the various crusades within the context of their times.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford Illustrated Histories)

Average customer rating:

Historical facts. No more.
High-gloss paper w/ a straight-forward approach to the Crusades
An excellent tome on the crusades to begin your historical journey!
Not a book for the general public
Review of Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford Illustrated Histories)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

18th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Crusades Through Arab Eyes
The New Concise History of the Crusades (Critical Issues in History)
The Crusades: A History
Arab Historians of the Crusades
Crusades: The Illustrated History

ASIN: 0192854283

Book Description

Written by a team of leading scholars, this richly illustrated book, with over 200 colour and black and white pictures, presents an authoritative and comprehensive history of the Crusades from the preaching of the First Crusade in 1095 to the legacy of crusading ideas and imagery today.

Customer Reviews:

Historical facts. No more........2006-11-09

This is a very important book for people who want to know the facts without stories of romance and chivalry. It is very well organized with chapters dedicated to all the aspects of life from the time of the Crusades, aspects ranging from the military orders in various periods of time to the evolution of crusading literature. I recommend this book for people who need an overview of the period of the Crusades. It is also advisable, in order to comprehend the whole picture of the Crusades, to read opinions from the Muslim side. A very good book in this region is "Arab Historians of the Crusades" (The Islamic World Series) by Francesco Gabrieli.

High-gloss paper w/ a straight-forward approach to the Crusades.......2006-03-24

This is an intro book to the Crusades.
What I liked about The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades was it's very 'neat' look at history. It is a clean-cut array of events in prose form, with several pictures and illustrations, without moral position taken. This way, the reader can use the information given and put it into a context of discussion and a wider analysis of the time period covered. The only down-side was probably that, having used it in a classroom setting, I felt almost as if it were too 'story-book', too illustrative. The information, however, is substantial.

An excellent tome on the crusades to begin your historical journey!.......2006-01-10

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades introduced me to several aspects of the military campaigns and enduring influences they had which I had never been exposed. I have read other books on this topic and have learned a great deal, however, additional topics such as poetry, song and architecture were items which up until my reading of this book I had not even considered. After reading this book you will realize as perhaps as I that one has merely scratched the surface of Crusade history. I highly recommend this source if you would be interested in getting a bigger and better picture of this often misunderstood and oft-maligned period of history in western civilization.

Not a book for the general public.......2005-07-04

On the back cover you can read: "written by a team of leading scholars, this richly illustrated book.....presents an authoritative and comprehensive history of the Crusades from the preaching of the First Crusade in 1905 to the legacy of crusading ideas and imaginery today".
In fact it is a book written by scholars for scholars only and it is very different from the other many books about the Crusades that follow a cronological description of the history of the events that took place.
The book is composed of 15 chapters, written by different authors, that have little or no coordination at all, so it is no informative. The contents are very descriptive of the orientation of the book: ... Songs of the crusades, Architecture in the latin east, Images of the crusades in the 19th and 20th centuries, Revival and Survival (the orders today). As good scholars they authors also plague the book with a lot of fashionalbe, weird and mislead theories, very much repeated along the book like that the spanish reconquista was part of the crusades.
The book has many pictures, and some of the articles-chapters are interesting because they focus more deeply on a given issue, but it doesn't treat adequately the history of the crusades, the fears, pains, feats and ambitions of the crusaders, the way of life on the Holy Land, and the daily relationships between the several clashing cultures.

After reading the book you will not have a true picture about the flow of events that lead to the Crusades and their outcome. At the most it is a book for those that already have many other books on the subject, and want to have a look to its pictures and know a particular point of view of some of its authors.
Definitely not worth buying for the general public as one of the first readings.

Review of Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades.......2004-03-19

By:Jonathan Riley-Smith
Reviewed by:D. Wang
P.5

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades is a book about you want and don't want to know about the crusades. The book's opening chapters aren't about the actual military action at all. It's about the minds of the crusaders, the songs of the time, the Latin East. It's not until chapter nine that military orders, movements, and actions are mentioned. The book concludes with a comparison of modern day events and the crusades.

I liked this book because of the sheer amount of information. on page 86 it says "Men and women, including elderly crusaders, came to Jerusalem to end their days. The charnel chambers in the Hospitallers' ruined twelfth-century cemetry-church at Alcheldamach, just outside Jersalem, are still filled with the bones of pious Christians." It is extremely doubtful you will find this variety of information in a textbook.

This book really took the effort to find all the information possible. An entire chapter of the book is devoted to songs about the crusade. There are not many books about a series of wars where an entire chapter is devouted to songs. The book puts a lot a information and visual material in 436 pages. It is very easy to be overwhelmed, and the authors should have made it easier to comprehend.

My favorite part of the book is the last chapter. "In a surprising development, however, the theology of force that underpinned crusading has been revived, especially in Latin America, by a militant wing of Christian Liberation." It is amzing how we humans fall from the same things over and over again, and this chapter previews of what might come. I like to compare our present to our past because it makes you realize how many times we've made the same mistake over and over again. Sometimes we just fail to take the past into consideration.

The Crusades: An Illustrated History
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The Crusades: An Illustrated History
Wayne Bartlett
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books
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History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0750939192

Book Description

The Crusades related the dramatic history of a movement which sought to establish Christianity in place of its birth during the Middle Ages.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Primer on the Crusades

The Crusades: An Illustrated History
James Harpur
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560256990

Book Description

To modern minds, the Crusades conjure up heroic knights in shining armor galloping into battle. Although there is some truth to this image, the reality was much harsher. Thousands of poor foot soldiers and peasants who tagged along behind the knights died of malaria, dysentery, leprosy, war wounds, or sheer exhaustion. There were also terrible acts of treachery and savagery committed by both sides—such as the bloodbath when the Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099 and slaughtered every man, woman, and child until the victors were reportedly literally wading through blood.

Drawing on contemporary accounts, the fruits of up-to-date scholarship, and a wide range of full-color illustrations, The Crusades captures the excitement and drama of the battles, sieges, grueling marches, and surprise ambushes. It unravels the webs of politics and ever shifting alliances; and it conjures up the heroes and villains, and what life was really like for the thousands of Franks, for whom "Outremer" was not so much a foreign land as a home. With maps to pinpoint the routes and places, a glossary of the leading personalities, and a chronology of events, The Crusades is the perfect one volume guide to the wars that became a legend.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Primer on the Crusades.......2006-01-02

There are many excecptionally detailed books on the crusades, such as the one by Jonathan Riley-Smith, that go beyond broad military and religious topics to give a granular view of the crusades. The problem is that these books implicitly assume that one has a good grounding in the subject. So while they serve as excellent references on the crusades they are difficult places for the neophyte to begin.

Enter James Harpur's "The Crusades: An Illustrated History". Although barely over 100 pages this book manages to cover all of the salient topics for crusades taking place during the time period 1095-1291. The illustrations are well chosen and include selections from illuminated pages, modern photographs, and late medieval drawings. Most valuable is the late 19th century map of "The World of the Crusades". I found myself constantly going back for a peek at it every 2-3 pages. Since the book's front cover has a sturdy overleaf that also serves as a place marker this was easily accomplished without losing my spot in the book.

Harpur's style of writing is not overly simplistic. While this book is intended to be a primer it does have sidebars that give additional information on important people, events, and subjects. For example, there are sidebars on the Jewish massacres, Saint Francis, Frederick II, and holy relics, as well as numerous other topics of interest. Thus one comes away with a surprising amount of information given the book's brevity.

I would have given this book five stars except that it lacked maps of the Latin east at various time points. In terms of "balance" Harpur is equitable in his praise and criticism of Christians and Muslims. This book is an enjoyable read and will no doubt impel its readers to tackle more in-depth treatises on the subject.

Malta 1565: Last Battle of the Crusades (Praeger Illustrated Military History)

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Not impartial.
Badly researched and badly written
What a joke
A Well-Told Tale of Heroic Leadership
Malta, 1565: Mediocrity, 1999

Malta 1565: Last Battle of the Crusades (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
Tim Pickles
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Angels in Iron

ASIN: 027598852X

Book Description

The epic siege of the island fortress of the Knights Hospitaller by the huge Turkish Army of the Emperor Suliman is one of the most compelling stories in the history of the western world. The Turks amassed an army of 30,000 men, which doubled as the siege dragged on. The knights facing them totalled 500, along with 4,000 Maltese levies and 4,500 other troops. Tim Pickles describes how despite constant pounding by the massive Turkish guns and heavy casualties, the Knights managed to hold out. The siege lasted from the end of May until September, when a Spanish army relieved the island. In scenes of brutal combat, the Turks lost over 24,000 men as they were consistently repulsed from the fortress walls. Both sides accepted no quarter: at one point the Turks nailed the decapitated bodies of their enemies to crosses and let them float over to the Christian side, while in return Malta's defenders executed their Turkish prisoners and fired their heads from cannon. This campaign also witnessed many acts of individual bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, and these are brought to life in the six specially commissioned battlescene plates. Tim Pickles' account of the siege is extremely interesting and readable - an excellent book.

Customer Reviews:

Not impartial........2006-12-01

Mr. Pickles's scholarship aside, the dedication of this book and the afterward reveal a strong bias in favor of the Knights of Malta. The book is dedicated with gushing adoration to Mr. Pickles's father-in-law, who apparently was a modern member of that order. The afterword professes that chivalry lives on in the modern era, epitomized by the charitable works performed by the current members of the order. Mr. Pickles's personal enamour for chivalry in general and the Knights of Malta in particular cast doubt on the impartiality of his conclusions.

Badly researched and badly written.......2005-06-02

I am a Maltese historian focusing on this period of Mediterranean history. I bought this book because it was cheap, and cheap it was.

Look elsewhere if you want a truthful account of history. The Great Siege: Malta 1565, by Ernle Bradford is one of the best contemporary books around.

What a joke.......2002-06-20

After yawning through the first few chapters of Mr. Pickles latest attempt, I gratefully fell asleep and never picked Malta up again. Apparently Mr. Pickles fell asleep during his research for the book as well, as the number of inaccuracies in his research are astounding- I advise him to start publishing under the pseudonym "General Doofus". Don't buy this book unless you want to indulge the pocketbooks of a talentless author who spends more time pretending to be a General in lieu getting his facts straight. He should be drafted into service and sent to the front lines of any conflict we can find- then maybe he can learn to author a decent book.

A Well-Told Tale of Heroic Leadership.......2000-06-07

This is one of the very best of the Osprey Campaign series. The author succinctly describes the strategic background to the campaign, opposing plans, leaders and the forces involved. Order of Battle information is a bit sketchy. Once the Turks arrive, it became a bitter fight to the finish between two experienced and fanatical forces. This story is very interesting for military professionals to study because the outcome of the siege was close throughout, requiring imaginative use of "combat multipliers" and sound generalship. Both the heroism and leadership of La Valette are well told by the author. The maps depicting the key actions are excellent. Perhaps there are some minor errors (and what work of history is without error or omission?), but in this book there is a pathos of a long ago battle that is brought to vivid life by the author.

Malta, 1565: Mediocrity, 1999.......2000-05-18

The Great Siege of Malta was one of the most epic battles of the Wars of Religion. To date, the most popular book on this topic has been Ernle Bradford's "The Great Siege". While a gripping and highly readable account, it fell far short on providing specific details of the conflict. Despite this, it was responsible for developing my strong interest in the battle, and remains a personal favorite.

When I first heard of impending publication of Mr.Pickles work - and by Osprey Publications no less, reknowned for their level of research - I went so far as to pre-order it, sight unseen. Unfortunately, the initial high hopes held for this book were quickly dashed.

There are no new insights offered, and the level of historic detail is wanting. Armchair military historians are offered little in the way of explanation of unit organization, tactics, logistics or command structures. Indeed, in some ways the book is a step backward, in that its maps, while colorful, contain incorrect dates, events and troop locations.

Evidence of a general sloppiness of research is further reflected in the sparse bibliography, which ignores such critical contemporary works as Bosio's "History of the Order of St. John", as well as more modern efforts like John Guilmartin's "Gunpowder and Galleys." How this surprisingly short list of references got past the eye of Dr. David Chandler, the highly respected editor of the Osprey series, is a source of wonder.

Finally, the author's proposed rules for wargaming the Siege betray his unfamiliarity with the medium; if attempted, the amount of die rolling required by a game player would quickly send them to the hospital with a wrist injury. Its best to just pass them by.

Its not that this so much a 'bad' book, as much as its just so... mediocre. Primarily, it boils down to a retelling of Bradford's tale, but with some flashier pictures and a far heavier hand. A disappointment.

The First Crusade 1096-99: Conquest of the Holy Land (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
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The First Crusade 1096-99: Conquest of the Holy Land (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
David Nicolle
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORJ7CG

Average customer rating:

Honest book, very bad illustrations

Excellent overview, very detailed

On Track and Focused

The First Crusade 1096-99: Conquest of the Holy Land (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
David Nicolle
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Armies of the Crusades (Men at Arms Series, 75)

ASIN: 0275988473

Book Description

In 1095 the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I appealed to the Christian states of Western Europe for help against the Turks who had swept across the Empire after the disastrous Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in 1071. This book is about the First Crusade that followed, and saw several armies of 'armed pilgrims' march across Europe to the Holy Land. They were unleashed on a divided and fragmented Islamic world and won a series of apparently miraculous victories, capturing the Holy City of Jerusalem itself. The success of the First Crusade was never to be repeated, however, and triggered two centuries of bitter warfare, the repercussions of which are still felt today. David Nicolle's book examines this watershed in the relationship of the Christian and Islamic worlds.

Customer Reviews:

Honest book, very bad illustrations.......2007-02-11

Being very familliar with the many previous books by David Nicolle I was a little bit apprehensive beginning to read this one, because of his well known anti-Christian and pro-Muslim bias present in many of his older works. Well, all in all I was favorably surprised, because there is a clear effort of objectivity from his part on this still hotly debated topic. This is a very honest overview of the First Crusade, although, by necessity, quite short (Osprey Campaigns series are alway only 96 pages long). Certainly one can be a little surprised by the frequency with which author names the Crusaders army "a horde", and qualifies their commitment as "fanatism" and "hysterical religious intoxication". But I expected much worse.
Maps are very well done - this is a strong point in all David Nicolle books.
The really BAD point are the colour plates, the trademark of Osprey series - in this book they are simply horrible. Very vague, gray, without details usually present in most of the Osprey titles, with the faces of people almost fading. All in all these plates by Christa Hook belong more in a modern art museum than in a military history book.
Nevertheless it is still a honest book.

Excellent overview, very detailed.......2004-04-28

This is a good overview of the first Crusade and is well put together for reference purposes.

The book discusses the various aspects of the Crusades, such as reasons for its start, who were the participants and descriptions of the political climate at that time in both Europe and the Middle East. There are some very good descriptions of the structure of the Arab and Turk tribes and their internal construction and conflicts as well as the background of the European forces.

There are some very detailed descriptions of the key battles of the Crusades, how the troops on each side were composed, their strategies, some discussion on troop readiness, extenuating circumstances and influences, both real and perceived, as to why each battle was a success or failure. This book deals in factual history and is not overly romanticized or constructed.

The book contains some well researched material, with an excellent bibliography, a chronology table and is indexed for quick reference.

Outstanding features are the maps (by The Map Studio) showing not only the areas discussed, but also the military maps outlining the key battles of the first Crusade. They show topographical information, use military symbols for the troops and divisions and discuss military strategies and deployments.

Also worth mentioning are the many photos and graphics that grace every page of this book. The illustrations, done for the most part by Christa Hook, give a pictorial idea of the key players, some battle scenes and some impressions of how this may have appeared. Based on research of that era, the players come alive, dressed in their historical clothing, weapons, and gives us a visual impression of how the event may have looked.

The photos, most taken by the author himself, give you an idea of what some of these areas looked like when he took many of them in the 70's, and also includes art and architecture of the period. Many of these photos show places that are in areas where we can not travel today and provides a good window into the culture and places of the time.

This is a good reference book for students looking to do research on the subject as well as a good first book for those wanting to make themselves familiar with the First Crusade. While I have recommended it for grades as low as the 8th, this is easily a book grownups with no background on the Crusades can pick up and enjoy. medievalcrusadesbabe

On Track and Focused.......2003-11-23

Compared to Dr. David Nicolle's earlier volumes for Osprey, which while scholarly written have tended to digress on esoteric archaeological issues, his volume on the First Crusade is on track and focused. Dr. Nicolle's summary of the amazing First Crusade is enhanced by the structure provided by J. France's Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade (1994). Dr. Nicolle is also wary of earlier narratives of the Crusades that slighted the role of the Byzantines and provided minimal perspective from the Turkish and Fatimid points of view; indeed, this summary is notable for its consistent attention to historical balance (some readers may feel that the Crusaders themselves get overly short shrift).

The First Crusade begins with a 6-page section on the origins of the campaign and a detailed chronology for the years 1095-1099. As Nicolle sees it, the First Crusade was primarily in response to the weakness of the Byzantine Empire after the disaster at Manzikert in 1071 - theories that the Crusades could have also been motivated by domestic or religious factors in Europe are not seriously entertained. The sections on opposing leaders, opposing armies and opposing plans is adequate for a volume of this size, but the lack of any attempt to construct at least a bare-bones order of battle for the Crusaders is annoying (others have tried). The centerpieces of the volume are the three 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (the Battle of Dorylaeum, the Siege of Antioch, and the seizure of Jerusalem) and the three-color battle scenes (the Battle of Dorylaeum, the Battle outside Antioch and the Massacre in Jerusalem). The subjects of these color maps and illustrations are well chosen and convey some of the vital highlights in the campaign. There are also five 2-D color maps: the Christian and Islamic Worlds in 1095, the Crusaders' routes to Constantinople, Operations in Anatolia, campaigns in Syria and Palestine, and the Battle of Ascalon. The author also provides a decent bibliography and a section on touring the battlefields today.

Dr. Nicolle's campaign narrative is 57 pages long and covers the Crusader's operations from Constantinople to the Battle of Ascalon, a period of about 28 months. As usual, Dr. Nicolle is generally effective in detailing the facts behind a historical incident, but he is unable to instill much drama or passion into a campaign that was clearly driven by intangible factors of willpower and zeal. Indeed, on the objective level, the First Crusade should have failed due to poor logistics, poor knowledge of local conditions and insufficient military advantages over the indigenous forces. One puzzling omission is why Dr. Nicolle rarely makes references to troop strengths or casualties in this account; for example, many accounts estimate that the Crusaders suffered about 4,000 casualties at the Battle of Dorylaeum - but why is that omitted here? Without much reference to numbers (even estimates), the reader may not realize that the Crusaders lost about 70% of their troops in the course of these 28 months, or that they were usually outnumbered 3-1 or worse.

Perhaps Dr. Nicolle's most interesting observations for modern readers is the author's assessment that the Crusades were initially met by apathy in the Arab world, which goes a long way toward explaining how such a poorly-planned military expedition could pierce so deeply into a sea of enemies. Nicolle notes that, "it took a long time to motivate a counter-jihad to mirror the enthusiasm of the Crusade," and that for several years after the end of the First Crusade, the Crusader conquests were held by only a handful of professional troops. It is clearly amazing that neither the Turks nor Fatimids were able to annihilate such a tiny European force in their midst, and a force that did not receive substantial reinforcement for more than a decade. It is interesting to contrast this protracted Arab apathy then, with today's Islamic fundamentalist portrayal of the Crusades as such a cathartic event. Perhaps it might be useful for modern Islamic societies to remember that foreigners were only able to intervene militarily because of inter-Arab divisions (even in 1097, the Sunni-Shia split was an open wound) and foolish leadership. In military terms, the Crusades should have been a non-event; the Fatimid navy dominated the eastern Mediterranean and the Seljuk Turks dominated central Turkey with a large, powerful army. However the greatest result of the Crusades, as noted by Nicolle, was a Sunni Muslim revival that "resulted in a hardening of attitudes to non-Muslims" and "less tolerance of Shi'a Muslims". We are still feeling the results of this revival to this day.

GOD WILLS IT: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES.
Average customer rating:
GOD WILLS IT: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES.
W. B. Bartlett
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing Limited,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7I5DO

Nicopolis 1396: The Last Crusade (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
Average customer rating:

Arrogance at work !

Treacherous sides on a pitiful campaign

Lives up to high standard of series

Nicopolis 1396: The Last Crusade (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
David Nicolle
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0275988422

Book Description

The background to the Nicopolis Crusade can be found in the rapid spread of Ottoman Turkish conquests, particularly in the southern Balkans, during the second half of the 14th century. More specifically, it was the Ottoman threat to Hungary following the failure of a Hungarian uprising against Ottoman domination in Bulgaria that provoked action from its politically fragmented territories and the worried powers beyond. By this time, the once mighty Byzantine Empire had been reduced to little more than the city of Constantinople itself. In 1391 the Sultan Bayazid I 'The Lightning' besieged the city. Pope Boniface IX preached a crusade and a French-led army of 10,000 marched east. At Nicopolis on the Danube they met the Ottoman army in battle. Ignoring the advice of their Hungarian and Transylvanian allies the Crusaders charged the Turks and were in turn smashed by the Ottoman heavy cavalry. The last Crusade ended on the banks of the Danube as the Crusaders desperately sought to escape from the pursuing Turks. David Nicolle discusses this climax to the last great French-led crusade. Researched entirely from primary sources, much of the material in the book has never been published before.

Customer Reviews:

Arrogance at work !.......2000-11-18

But not in this work. The title of this review is a quotation of the French Admiral de Vienne who uttered it at the sight of the over hastily advancing French and Burgundian knights."When truth and reason cannot be heard,than must arrogance rule".Thus giving a perfect one-sentence description of the battle. What are the good points in this book: -The description of the crusading spirit of the nobel-classes in France and Burgundy. -Showing the arrogance of the French knighthood when it comes to the use of lower-class or mercenary infantry which they won`t have on their nobel crusade(resulting in a total lack of siege capacity and equipment). -Showing the lack of willingness by these knights to consider tactics and terrain as notable factors for the outcome of the battle at least when these would restrict their quest for glory and showing of personal bravery.(Thus they discarded the advise of their mostly Hungarian (there are practicaly no Austrians in this story) and Wallachian allies to wait with their attack until their army contingents had time to group. -The book has a good breakdown of Ottoman army organisation which has astonishingly many parallels to the European fashion. -Shows well the similarities and differences in habit when it comes to bravery of the (infantry) fighting man and cultural ethic. -Many typical Nicolle photographs of the landscape and pieces of armor.(Must have photographed every picture ,statuette and effigy containing a piece of armor from Skandinavia to the Sahara). -Dry, scholary and unbiased style of writing, the author really cares about his intellectural integrity (God behold him so). -It is really interesting to see the Christian Serbs crushing the last attempt of the Christian army to turn the battle.(And this 7 years after the battle of the "Amselfeld"). All in all an interesting book on an interesting battle with good pictures and maps.

P.S.:Now I wait for Mohacs.

Treacherous sides on a pitiful campaign.......2000-06-07

This book clearly laid out the last part of the Crusades fought with sticks-and-swords. The place was far remove from Jerusalem, but the competing powers each rested on a long heritage of crusading history.

The argument relied on the traditional assumption that the Austrians had over calculated their Balkan allies' fighting will. Their pompous mounted knights waited for and listed to no one. This very attitude cost them the whole campaign, although started successfully, when they reached the outskirts of Nicopolis (Bulgaria).

For once, history mentioned some goodness for the 'Serbs' when they finished off the last remaining Austrian's knights for the Ottomans. Only the wide river of Danube saved the Christian Coalition Army from total destruction.

You won't find any fancy strategy devised by the Ottoman on this battle, but everything seemed went wrong for the Christian army. Several colored pictures nicely decorate this piece of work.

Another fine effort pulled by the team at Osprey Publishing, it's where you relied on when speaking about military history.

Lives up to high standard of series.......2000-04-22

Nothing fancy about this book - just another very solid history lesson from Dr.Nicolle.

The Oxford Illustrated History of The Crusades

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The Oxford Illustrated History of The Crusades
Riley-Smith Jonathan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UEJRFU

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