The Crusades

"This German-to-English translation of a highly successful book is a clear, approachable, student-friendly introduction to the history of the crusades." "With a long chronological span, from the eleventh to the late fifteenth century, and with a wide geographical coverage of the whole of Europe and some of the Middle East, The Crusades is clear, concise and more wide-ranging than most single-volume works. Chapters on the military orders and the history of the crusader states illustrate the impact of the crusades on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea. The book takes both Christian and Islamic viewpoints into account and sets the crusades in the larger framework of European expansion in the Middle Ages." "Providing a fine overview of the crusade movement and taking recent scholarship into account, Nikolas Jaspert uses boxes, case studies, marginal directions and chronologies to make each chapter very easy to follow. Students at all university levels will find The Crusades to be an invaluable historical resource."--Jacket.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.