The New Concise History of the Crusades

About this book

How have the crusades contributed to Islamist rage and terrorism today? Were the crusades the Christian equivalent of modern jihad? In this sweeping yet crisp history Thomas F. Madden offers a brilliant and compelling narrative of the crusades and their contemporary relevance. With a cry of "God wills it!" medieval knights ushered in a new era in European history. Across Europe a wave of pious enthusiasm led many thousands to leave their homes family and friends to march to distant lands in a great struggle for Christ. Yet the crusades were more than simply a holy war. They represent a synthesis of attitudes and values that were uniquely medieval-so medieval in fact that the crusading movement is rarely understood today. Placing all the major crusades within the medieval social economic religious and intellectual environments that gave birth to the movement and nurtured it for centuries Madden brings the distant medieval world vividly to life. From Palestine and Europes farthest reaches each crusade is recounted in a clear concise narrative. The author gives special attention as well to the crusades effects on the Islamic world and the Christian Byzantine East. More information is available on the authors website.