Holy Warriors

January 4, 2010
University of London historian and History Channel contributor Phillips (The Second Crusade
) superbly condenses the four centuries of the Crusades into a single, easily accessible volume. Islamic as well as Western sources are utilized to demonstrate the similarities between jihad and crusading. The narrative weaves a tragic tapestry, beginning with the bloodily successful First Crusade, through the establishment of the Crusader states, to the failure of subsequent Crusades, the victories of the Muslim “counter-Crusade,” and the continuing legacy of religious and cultural hatred that permeates the Holy Land. Individuals such as the “charismatic” Queen Melisende of Jerusalem; the “Leper King,” Baldwin IV; the Muslim warriors Nur ad-Din and Saladin; England's Richard the Lionheart; and many others play major and minor roles in the creation of a past that still lives today. Episodes including the “breathtaking naivete” of the Children's Crusade and the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula are effectively described. Concluding chapters examine the impact of the Crusades since the 15th century. Regrettably, little attention is given to the crusading spirit resurrected by the 1571 Battle of Lepanto. But this is an outstanding summary of centuries of religious strife, the effects of which are with us still. 8 pages of b&w photos, 5 maps.

December 15, 2009
A fresh, no-nonsense take on the causes, human cost and continued relevance of the medieval Crusades.

Both religious belief and endemic violence characterized Europe in 1095 when Pope Urban II called for a"just war" against the alarming rise of the Muslims. Employing inflated language about sacrifice and the promise of celestial rewards, the pope gathered an army of 60,000"Christian soldiers" to regain Jerusalem. They succeeded, but Phillips (Crusading History/Univ. of London; The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom, 2007, etc.) shows how ensuing crusades failed miserably, despite the zeal of the faithful. The Second, initiated by Pope Eugenius III and Bernard of Clairvaux, ended in a humiliating retreat from Damascus; the launch of a Third Crusade by King Richard the Lionheart was in response to Saladin's retaking of Jerusalem; Pope Innocent III's call for a Fourth Crusade, led by the Venetians, ended in the shocking sack of Constantinople in 1204; Frederick II's abysmal Fifth Crusade was thwarted by the Egyptians, yet he eventually finagled his way into Jerusalem by sheer diplomacy; pious King Louis IX's determined last crusades in the Holy Land encountered significant Muslim resistance but gained him sainthood. Along the way there were tertiary struggles against the heretics, such as Innocent III's rallying against the Cathars, the rise of the Inquisition, led by the Dominican friars, and Ferdinand and Isabella's eventual regaining of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. Phillips wisely incorporates Columbus's mandate to spread the Good Word across the seas as another significant crusade. In two terrific concluding chapters, the author traces the resurgence of the crusading metaphor into modern times, largely thanks to Sir Walter Scott and the Romantics, and considers the incendiary war language of today—as jihad and as used by President Bush in asserting a"moral right."

A straightforward, pertinent study replete with passionate personages both Christian and Muslim.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2010
Written for general rather than academic readers, this work is centered more on character than on chronology. Though Phillips (Crusading history, Royal Holloway, Univ. of London) follows the overall time line of the Crusades, his narrative often pauses to provide extensive sketches of figures and events not part of most popular histories of the Crusades. Phillips also continues past the ostensible "end" of the Crusading era in 1291, exploring some of the later Christian-Muslim battles that occurred outside the Middle East and analyzing how the cultural idea of Crusading developed as both action and metaphor from the medieval era to the modern day. Though somewhat brief considering the vast amount of history it covers, this work succeeds in providing a vivid and engaging narrative for a general audience while demonstrating excellent scholarship and a balanced presentation of Christian and Muslim viewpoints.KM

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2010
Historians and laypersons continue to dispute the causes and even the moral justification for the 200-year effort by Europeans to recapture the so-called Holy Land. The immense impact of the Crusades, however, is undeniable. The horizons of Europeans were expanded, feudal societies were transformed, and the peoples of the Levant have inherited a legacy of bitterness toward the invading Christian Franks. Phillips, professor of crusading history at the University of London, provides a compact survey of the crusading movement that, unlike most such accounts, includes the initiative to reconquer Muslim Spain and suppress Christian heresy in southern France. Since he aims his work at general readers, Phillips employs a fast-moving narrative, but he also pauses to focus special attention upon topics and personalities of special interest, including instances of Muslim-Christian cooperation, divisions within Muslim and Christian forces, and characters both colorful and controversial. A well-written work succeeding in explaining a complex and vitally important era.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)