Book Description
Islam expert Robert Spencer reveals Islam's ongoing, unshakable quest for global conquest and why the West today faces the same threat as the Crusaders did--and what we can learn from their experience.
Customer Reviews:
Shows common myths wrong but too many omissions and quite a bit of ranting.......2007-10-06
Following upon the runaway success of its guide to American history, Regnery Publishing decided to follow it with a guide to Islam, which fitted in with the paranoia about jihad taking over the West at the time.
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" covers much the same territory as the author's former book Islam Unveiled. Having read about Muslims' own viewpoints of Islam through investigating the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, Spencer both in Islam Unveiled and this book provides a clear corrective to people who seemed reasonable people when I first read them but are in fact apologists for Islam. His illustration of the amount of violence in the Qur'an is in fact something I knew of very well from reading my father's copy as a child, but Spencer's illustration of how Muslim theologians actually regard the most violent verses as overturning less violent ones is something quite new (to me) and shocking.
His overview of the Crusades is essentially a repeat of Islam Unveiled, though for those who read other aspects of the period's history it seems strangely incomplete and not looking at other events of the time like Christianisation of northern Europe. There is also a lot of repetitive ranting about how Muslim rulers' apparent tolerance of other religions resulted from them relaxing Sharia law: Spencer makes no effort to explain why they relaxed it or failed to follow it (or even why they ended such practices). In a similar vein is his explanation of how Islam wiped out Zoroastrianism and Nestorian Christianity consequent upon its eastward spread. This may be a good explanation; however, there are two glaring omissions in this context.
The first is the absence of a chapter or two on the response of Hindu and Buddhist Asia to the spread of Islam. Given Spencer's statement that Hindu India is the only nation apart from the West that has successfully resisted jihad, this is surprising. The second is a discussion to the spread of Islam in southeast Asia between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Given that Islam in southeast Asia is often quoted (despite the terrorism in Indonesia today) by many who deny that Islam is by nature intolerant and violent, this omission is all the more serious. Spencer also does consider that modernisation is already seriously weakening traditions in most Muslim nations today, so that some of his claims about the Islamic future of the West come off as too familiar.
All in all, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" does offer some remarkably obvious correctives to myths about Islam and the Qur'an, as well as some almost-terrifying revelations about Islam and its founder. Its tone is at times very ranty, however, and there are a number of facets of Islamic history that the book omits to mention.
Hate some more people...thats all we need.......2007-09-28
This book reinforces the medias hold on our society...once you have been fed something for so long (in this case that Islam is bad) it is quite easy to belief when people start picking apart pieces...i embraced Islam 1 1/2 years ago and it was the best decision i have ever made...i do not prescribe to some of the most socially damaging behaviours of our time drinking/premarital sex/overindulgence in material possessions/environemenatl damage....Islam has put all these things in perspective for me and has given me a foundation and guidance as to how to achieve these things.....
I love all people and respect their beliefs and literature like this CREATES FURTHER DISTANCE BETWEEN HUMANKIND......like we need anymore hate and discrimination....
PIG Islam.......2007-09-24
Not as good as I thought it would be. Does not provide much insight, but makes you want to learn more.
OH MY GOD!.......2007-09-21
A MUST READ for every person living in Western Civilization! This book exposes this 'religion' as the expansionist political movement it is and the underground quiet revolution that is taking place using our legal system, our schools, our media, our gullibility and the mathematical inevitabilty of population demographics to impose their will on our society.
Even right thinking Muslims who practice only the spiritual and moral precepts by which they live their lives I doubt know the underlying and nefarious principles of Islam. And if they do shame on them for not publicly rejecting them.
Eye opening reading. Spend the money to buy this book. The more you know about Islam will allow you see through the politically correct smokescreen that the Islamist apologists (CAIR), our media and our government is putting forth. Our civilization and the future of your grandchildren are at stake. Buy it but more importantly read it cover to cover and then pass it on to a neighbor or friend.
Informative.......2007-09-18
A good read that's well argued. To anyone presenting Islam as peaceful, this book cross references the koran frequently and to good effect. Also explains a bit of history prior to the crusades that is commonly omitted from contemporary debate.
Average customer rating:
- It was a good deal too
- Theoretical background for Operations Management - setting a new standard
- written with the heart of a teacher
- Exceptional enlightened and insightful!
- Excellent and valuable book
|
Factory Physics Second Edition
Wallace Hopp , and
Mark Spearman
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Similar Items:
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Value Stream Management
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Modeling and Analysis of Manufacturing Systems
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The Toyota Way
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The Goal
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Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated
ASIN: 0256247951 |
Book Description
Comprehensive Introduction to Manufacturing Management text covering the behavior laws at work in factories. Examines operating policies and strategic objectives. Hopp presents the concepts of manufacturing processes and controls within a "physics" or "laws of nature" analogy--a novel approach. There is enough quantitative material for an engineer's course, as well as narrative that a management major can understand and apply.
Customer Reviews:
It was a good deal too.......2007-08-16
The Book was in Excellent shape. It was a good deal too
thank you
Theoretical background for Operations Management - setting a new standard.......2006-10-03
This book provides you with the fundamental insights of manufacturing and assembly. Even though I do not like statistics to much, the book is written in a understandable manner and provides the fundamental knowledge to understand what is going on in manufacturing. Based on this knowledge, the flaw of MRP-systems are even explained as well as the basics of JIT/Lean. The book provides mainly the hardfacts of this science and for practical people, reading first Quick-Response-Manufacturing (from Rajan Suri) might be the easier way for many of us and gives you the motivation to take a deeper look later on - as provided by Factory Physics.
Factory Physics describes not only how to describe a single workstation and the interactions between many of them, than as well the great importance of variability reduction in a production line and how to analyse it. CONWIP-lines, as a mix of push-pull, are a central key in this book and a simple way to analyse the performance of any system is provided by the book. This book, together with Quick-Response-Manufacturing (this book includes important softfactores as well) have changed drastically my way of operational thinking and given me a sense, which system to apply (QRM or JIT/Lean) and why. The insight can even be used for services as well. One central point is the utilisation of a workstation and the knowledge, that the more you reduce variability in arrivals and processing, the higher the utilisation can be - still achieving low lead times. You will find as well important and simple laws helping you out in the daily business (Little's law and queueing theory).
As for JIT/Lean, lead time reduction can use the same japanese tools:
- SMED: setup-time reduction (lot sizes for reduction in lead time and WIP)
- TPM: productive maintenance (higher machine availability and decrease of variability)
- ZQC: fool-proof quality inspection for Zero defects (against capacity lost and to decrease variability)
All the books mentionned above, have a big advantage over traditional SCM-books: they provide you with a framework how to trim a single chain-element of the supply-chain and therefore how to built the whole supply chain. The operational strategy should be derived from the overall company strategy and with this new insights you can tailor a unique production system that fits your company's goals - or even give you an advantage over your competition. Anyway, it will not make obsolet the importance of having a sound and consistant overall business strategy (for your markets) first!
Enjoy reading, Best Regards
written with the heart of a teacher.......2006-03-13
Though the two authors are consultants, they are foremost - teachers. What is useful, and kind to a degree, is they put an effort to explain the numbers as pragmatic as possible. That idea made this book very accessible. To the industrial engineers or those who are involved (and passionate) in operations or in understanding systems - next to the Industrial Engineering Handboook, this should be in our library.
Exceptional enlightened and insightful!.......2006-02-18
I found this book to be very insightful. It helps to explain many of my own observations in my factory. The authors did an excellent job of explaining the key concepts using only average use of mathematics and in simple layman's terms. The readers will only need basic mathematics/beginner calculus, and basic statistics. Reading it was like discovering new ideas to implement in the factory to quickly realize efficiencies and cost savings. It was one of the best books I have laid eyes on in a very long time.
I highly recommend this book for every mfg and production engineers working in assembly or automation-driven factory. This book is not applicable to chemical processing, thus may not bring significant values to chemical or petroleum engineers.
Excellent and valuable book.......2005-12-23
This is the best course textbook I have had so far over about ten industrial engineering courses (and I have had some very good textbooks and courses). The book basically describes how to analyze and improve manufacturing operations through examining key areas that include: variability and its sources, push and pull systems, and supply chain management.
The authors approach is to present ideas in a very clear and relevant way. What I particularly like is that they do a great job putting things into perspective in a style that is highly readable. While there is some math involved if one wants to delve into the details that are in side notes, a basic understanding of calculus is more than sufficient. The authors are clearly very bright and, more importantly, are able to communicate very effectively and with a sense of humor.
This book can definitely be read on a stand-alone basis outside of a school environment. Many of the central ideas are very valuable.
Book Description
BradyGames’ World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Official Strategy Guide includes the following:
-
Strategy for the two new races, Draenei and Blood Elves.
-
Coverage of starting regions and Outland with maps for all.
-
Quest listing for all new regions.
-
Information on flying mounts and how to obtain them at level 70, the last level.
-
Data on slotted items such as their impact and how they should be used.
-
In-depth information on the new profession of Jewel Crafting.
-
Complete listing of new trade items from the new regions.
Platform: PC
Genre: Role-Playing Game
This product is available for sale worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
Great help for beginners.......2007-10-12
If you are new to WoW, and you've decided to get WoW and the BC expansion, you will really benefit from this guide. If you've played WoW for a while, and are just getting the BC expansion, don't bother, you will not get much out of this guide. The walkthrough for the two new race's first missions are really cool, and very helpful to new players.
great maps.......2007-08-03
maps are very usefull another great book although it falls apart easily as usual for Brady guides
0 stars was not available so it got 1 star.......2007-07-11
This expansion ruined WoW.
Got my character to 70 bought the flying mount, then canceled my subscription.
Why? you may ask, class balance has been ruined.
I spent more time being corpse camped by random mages, then I spent playing.
To be sure, I understand that corpse camping is a part of the game, what I don't understand is how a level 70 character can be basically 1 hit by another 65 plus character.
Solution? simple, put a limit on the amount of dots a mage can stack on another character in pvp, have different limits applied to pve.
Anyway, If you enjoy WoW you may be disappointed by the BC expansion.
Side Note, IF you are a WoW junky that spends every waking hour in game, and have all the best gear, then BC may be just what the doctor ordered, for the casual gamer though, its a game stopper.
Burning Crusade Guide.......2007-06-27
Is a Complete Guide only it had some faults in the order the quests suppose to be done. And after a couple of days de border gave in and the book fell apart. Put the contents of the book made me a very competitive player and got very fast to level 20+. I bought the other two guides available for further use after I finished the Book
WoW- Burning Crusade.......2007-06-09
Excellent book that is very informative of the new area and quests of the expansion. very helpful
Book Description
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. Placing all the major crusades within their medieval social, economic, religious, and intellectual environments, Madden explores the uniquely medieval world that led untold thousands to leave their homes, family, and friends to march in Christ's name to distant lands. From Palestine and Europe's farthest reaches, each crusade is recounted in clear, concise narrative. The author gives special attention as well to the crusades' effects on the Islamic world and the Christian Byzantine East.
Customer Reviews:
Gained a perspective.......2007-05-26
This was the first book I ever read about the Crusades. I felt I needed some historical background for the Christian-Muslim tension that we see all around the world today. This book presented the subject in an unbias way that left me feeling I could draw some informed opinions on the subject. To be frank, some of my conclusions were not what I expected them to be prior to reading the book. I am not a good reader. It is a struggle for me to get through a book. I looked forward to reading this book every evening until I finished. It left me wanting to learn more about the subject. One last thing...it is only 225 pages and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.
Understand the Crusades from a Medieval Mindset.......2007-03-24
Following September 11th, 2001 and George W. Bush's idiotic claim that the war in Iraq was a "crusade", Westerners looked to the past to make sense of what is currently happening in the world; a clash of East and West. Most, if not all, books on the Crusades take a liberal enlightenment stance of attacking the West and portraying the Crusaders as warmongerers who were only interested in their personal wealth and power. The reason for this outlook is because those books were influenced by authors and research done during the Imperial Age of both Europe and America which had overtones of the West imposing it's will onto the East which authors compared to the Crusades.
Madden's book takes a very balanced and scholarly approach to the Crusades; instead of adding on to the list of historically and socially flawed texts about the subject, he shows in a very simple and easy to understand way the mind set of both Medieval Europe and Islam. By doing this he doesn't fall victim to trying to explain the purpose of the Crusades using the modern secular mindset but the pious devotion to God found in both Christian and Muslim camps which makes understanding them easier. Once the reader is acquainted with the Medieval world, Madden does take an unbiased secular approach to what the Crusades were and the impact, if any, they have on current state of affairs.
With a little over 200 DETAILED pages Madden does a thorough job explaining the finer points of the Crusade without overbearing the reader with a list of dates and endless family genealogies. I highly recommend this book to those who are looking for an introduction into the complex subject of the Crusades or just to get a concise overview of what they were about without ploughing through thousands of pages of other texts. This is my second book on the Crusades, James Reston's Jr's "Warrior's of God" being the first (it's a closer look at Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade; Reston, like others in the past, is biased towards the East/Islam, but only in the introduction of the end of the 2nd Crusade, the bias surprisingly disappears after that, great book highly recommend it).
One thing you'll definitely get from this book is that the Crusades were not black and white, good vs. evil, West vs. Islam; too many factors are involved to make it so. Get the book and learn that whatever you may see in the media about what is happening in the world today has some sort of agenda.
Next up: Runciman's 3 volume work (although it is dated and is somewhat flawed in thinking) and Tyerman's "God's War".
not objective.......2007-02-07
Good book if you throw objectivity away and look at history with a sentimental eye rather than a neutral mind. I was dissapointed in the way the book was written.
An easy introduction.......2007-01-28
This book is great for beginners. The writing is smooth and lively, and the author doesn't overwhelm you with too much useless information. Once you're done with this book, if you're interested, you should move on to the books by Jonathan Riley-Smith (we're using them at school). His books contain more information but they are more difficult; I would not recommend them for beginners. You should start with this.
Both Thomas Madden and Jonathan Riley-Smith take a refreshingly balanced approach. They do not paint the Crusades and Imperialism with the same brush, as if the crusaders were just a bunch of greedy European Christians out to plunder innocent Muslim lands. This is currently the popular view; but it confuses the greed of secular imperialists with the piety of devout crusaders. Furthermore, it assumes that Islam spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Spain 'innocently.'
Instead, the Crusades were armed pilgrimages to the holy land with three main objectives: a) to come to the aid of Eastern Christians who were under threat by Muslim forces, b) to recapture some of the territory which was recently conquered by Muslim forces, and c) to improve relations with the Eastern Church. Unfortunately, the Crusades eventually failed in all three of these areas.
Once a crusade was launched it was difficult to control, and too many atrocities took place along the way. Two common examples of such atrocities are the massacring of Jews in Germany during the First Crusade, and the sacking of the city of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. Nevertheless, these atrocities were never the initial intentions of the Crusades. Thomas Madden explains all of this in a very fair way. He neither shies away from the ugliness of these atrocities nor uses them to justify an anti-Catholic/pro-secular rant.
A breath of fresh air.
Lots of information in a small form factor.......2007-01-22
After seeing the great reviews for this book, I picked it up to try to gain a better understanding of the Crusades and how it may be related to current events. I was kind of shell shocked with all of the details this book throws at you. But after getting deeper into the book, it was actually a great read. From the disappointments of the Crusades to the identification of the misunderstanding that often result from historical misconceptions, this book packs a lot of information in a concise and interesting format.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Customer Reviews:
An average attempt.......2007-05-26
Hands down Dan Abnett is the best authort the Black Library has. His knowledge of the universe and inventive prose usually make for an entertaining read. However, this piece was just plain boring. It reads like a history book, which is what it is intended to be, however, for fans of the 40k universe, it lacks a couple important things: character, action (there's plenty of action, but all described from a rather academic and bird's eye view, and of course, the 40k flavor. The juxtaposition of a hi-tech yet brutally superstitious culture is what interests the reader. for example, the Sabbot World's crusade doesn't seem to mention Gaunt's Ghosts at all. Well, come on! They are they only reason Dan Abnett has a job! His overview of the Sabbat World's Crusade was... just... dry.
The hardcore fan will love it. It's a beautiful book. But lacks a certain spark.
Reference material, nice artwork.......2007-04-10
The artwork in this book is very good. Fans of Warhammer 40K and Battlefleet Gothic (both are science fiction miniature games from Games Workshop) will find this book an excellent reference guide for any campaigns they wish to create as there are maps provided of key locations. The description of the four battles that occur provides the background material to help any game player design a strategic battlefield that extends beyond one company or battalion, but across planets and solar systems.
Readers of the Warhammer 40K series will recognize some of the locations from other stories. Overall a light read, took a couple of hours. Solid product and fans will enjoy it as a reference book.
A great addition to the growing history of Warhammer40K's Imperium........2007-03-20
Tactica Imperium: A History of the Later Imperial Crusades is a great addition to the growing and very detailed backstory and history of the Imperium of Mankind. For those who already have played and followed the growing mythology of Games Workshop's Warhammer40K will enjoy this additional source of background information. Those who have been reading the Gaunt books from the Black Library division of Games Workshop will also recognize the principal author of Tactica Imperium. Dan Abnett lends his excellent writing skills and deep knowledge of the Warhammer40k universe to this source book.
One of the battle's even describes a Crusade which Abnett has been writing about for years: The Sabbat Worlds Crusade. The Battle for Lyubov gives the readers a new vantage point on this long-standing Crusade which has been pretty much seen through the eyes of Gaunt and his Tanith First-and-Only Imperial Guard regiment. I like the fact that even without falling back to mentioning the Tanith in this battle, Abnett still makes it exciting and vivid to read. There's been talk that Abnett will be ending the adventures of Gaunt and the Tanith. If he does then I hope he writes more stories about the Sabbat Worlds Crusade but through other point of views.
There's a total of four pivotal battles describes and detailed in Tactica Imperium. Abnett does a great job in writing out all four. I especially like the insight he gives to the different mindset the Adeptus Astartes has towards defending the Imperium. Some who read this particular battle for Naxos might find the Space Marines of the Iron Snakes Chapter cold, calculating and emotionless, but in the end it does show that they look at the broader scope of how to defend the Imperium. Even if it means sacrificing the very people they've been tasked to protect.
Tactica Imperium: A history of the Later Imperial Crusades is a wonderfully written source book which should satisfy any fan of Warhammer40K. It's vivid, detailed and at times thrilling like a full-blown action novel. Dan Abnett continues to cement his status as the Black Library's premiere house author and here's to hoping he continues to write any future Tactica Imperium books.
Book Description
God's War offers a sweeping new vision of one of history's most astounding events: the Crusades.
From 1096 to 1500, European Christians fought to recreate the Middle East, Muslim Spain, and the pagan Baltic in the image of their God. The Crusades are perhaps both the most familiar and most misunderstood phenomena of the medieval world, and here Christopher Tyerman seeks to recreate, from the ground up, the centuries of violence committed as an act of religious devotion.
The result is a stunning reinterpretation of the Crusades, revealed as both bloody political acts and a manifestation of a growing Christian communal identity. Tyerman uncovers a system of belief bound by aggression, paranoia, and wishful thinking, and a culture founded on war as an expression of worship, social discipline, and Christian charity.
This astonishing historical narrative is imbued with figures that have become legends--Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Philip Augustus. But Tyerman also delves beyond these leaders to examine the thousands and thousands of Christian men--from Knights Templars to mercenaries to peasants--who, in the name of their Savior, abandoned their homes to conquer distant and alien lands, as well as the countless people who defended their soil and eventually turned these invaders back. With bold analysis, Tyerman explicates the contradictory mix of genuine piety, military ferocity, and plain greed that motivated generations of Crusaders. He also offers unique insight into the maturation of a militant Christianity that defined Europe's identity and that has forever influenced the cyclical antagonisms between the Christian and Muslim worlds.
Drawing on all of the most recent scholarship, and told with great verve and authority, God's War is the definitive account of a fascinating and horrifying story that continues to haunt our contemporary world.
Customer Reviews:
In a Word: Thorough.......2007-09-29
Tyerman's "God's War" is, in a word, a massively thorough work that covers a huge range of time and a huge array of theatres of war. While, unlike some, I would recommend it as a very detail introduction, there are some warnings that go with it.
This book covers the entire gamut of Christian holy wars against a variety of enemies in a variety of geographic locations. Not only does it cover the events that shaped the Crusades, but it also details the evolution of thought and the planning that eventually went into them. The book gives the reader a good insight into the mindset of the grassroots Crusader.
While some may find the number of people and names bewildering, I would rather see this as an advantage to the work. It covers a large movement taht involved a huge number of people. The names will provide the new reader with a launching point to further reading about the people that specifically interest you.
While not an easy book to read, (much due to the sheer physical size of it), "God's War" is truly the definitive study on the subject of the Crusades in all their manifestations. If you only read one book on the subject, make it this one. I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot.
Good for what it is but not a comprehensive history.......2007-08-28
The review from OP Filmmaker says it best but those thoughts are worth repeating so that the glowing reviews do not mislead. This is not a "history" in the style of most history books. It is an examination of the European social, religious, and political contexts of the crusades. The spotlight is on Europe, not the middle east, and on ideas, not events. What actually happened in the Holy Land is described briefly, in passing (to illustrate some point that Tyerman is making about European events), or not at all. On the other hand, the usually-ignored Albigensian and Baltic crusades are essential to the thesis and are discussed at length.
This is also not a military history. A couple of sieges are describe in some detail but the conduct of war and battle is really not part of the story Tyerman is trying to tell.
That story is enlightening and the book is useful as a companion to some other work - Runciman, for example - that recounts the historical events, or for those already familiar with them. But by presenting this as a "new history" rather than as a specialized work, the publisher has done a disservice to the author and the public. The book will disappoint those who start the struggle through Tyerman's unfortunately tendentious and clumsy prose expecting to be told "what happened" and get instead 900 pages about the background of why it happened.
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Christianity need be distinguished.......2007-08-18
Any reader of Tyerman's work is clearly a more serious student of history. As such it is important for such a reader to distinguish (on her own, unfortunately) Eastern Christianity (that is, the Christianity of Byzantium) and Roman Catholicism. Since the Crusades themselves served as a material, solidifying force that separated Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy, this dogmatic distinction--made substantively clear by the very existence of the Crusades--should be more pronounced in the work. However (and this is the reason for my giving the work 3 stars), as with the vast majority of other western-oriented studies of Christian history, this is glossed over in favor of a "blanket" view of Christianity. While I am not asking for a theological treatise, some consideration of this issue would ony deepen our understanding of why the Crusades occurred.
It is therefore painful to see that some reviewers here (and even the author himself, at times) characterize certain paradoxes of Christian faith involving the message of Christ and the barbarism of the Crusades without acknowledging that the Roman Catholic interpretation of this message had long since departed from that of the unified, Byzantine Christianity of 4 centuries earlier. That is, it would be more correct to ask whether such paradoxes were perhaps the result of the Roman Catholic departure from ancient Christianity. It should be noted that even when the Byzantines had the power to resist Islam independently (as it had for 5 centuries) there was no such military action against neighbors that resembled the Crusades. Is this not evident in the idea that Tyerman forwards, that the papal desire for the concentration of power superceded the desire for financial gain? What greater a departure from Orthodoxy could there be?
Great Work.......2007-06-19
First, I must add the disclaimer that I read this book over several months, in 5-25 page bits, so my experience may be different from yours. Having said that, this is a great work of history, Tyerman leaves out no detail, and maintains fantastic writing, including a great vocabulary with many words I had never even seen before, throughout this 1000+ page text. Some other reviewers have accused him of composing a boring work, and to a degree this is true; Tyerman goes into politics that can be tedious at times, and he deals with royal families that can be as large as they are repetitive. However, if you manage to go through this book deliberately, there is plenty of information and analysis to be had. For those of you looking for stories about Richard the Lion and romantic Curasade stories, this simply isn't your book. While Tyerman does touch on the these areas, he also discusses Crusades in Iberia, the Baltic, Anatolia, Egypt, and Cyprus, offering a perspective much broader than a focus simply on the Holy Land could muster. Finally, I would like to comment on the balance in sources Tyerman brings as an historian. He leaves no source unchallenged for bias, constantly seeking affirmatory or conflicting accounts, and more importantly he has a great command of the Arab and even Mongolian perspective of the Crusades, with many primary and secondary sources to back him. Overall, I recommend this book to any student of history, especially those with a few months to spare.
Narrative History At It's Best.......2007-04-03
All I can say to this book's critics is that they should stick to, say, Tom Clancey. I teach and write military history for a living and consider God's War one of the finest works in the field to appear in a generation. It is long, but the subject is complex and covers far more than the battles in the Holy Land. Tyerman is one of the "new breed" of British historians working on the Middle Ages and has given the subject of the Crusades a state of the art treatment. It covers the story at length - good if one is interested in the subject - and does so with splendid empathy. If one doesn't read books because they won't fit in your shirt pocket, perhaps one should pass on this one. Of course, such a person would also pass on some of the masterpieces in various fields. (One thinks of "Citizen" by Simon Schama - brilliant, but long.) This is a truly great work and will stand as the central reference in English for two generations at least.
Book Description
Sir Steven Runciman’s three volume A History of the Crusades, one of the great classics of English historical writing, is now being reissued. This volume describes the Frankish states of Outremer from the accession of King Baldwin I to the re-conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. As Runciman says in his preface, â€~The politics of the Moslem world in the early twelfth-century defy straightforward analysis, but they must be understood if we are to understand the establishment of the Crusader states and the later causes of the recovery of Islam … The main theme in this volume is warfare … I have followed the example of the old chroniclers, who knew their business; for war was the background to life in Outremer and the hazards of the battlefield often decided its destiny.’
Customer Reviews:
A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187.......2007-08-28
All three volumes of this historical work are written extremely well. They are very enjoyable to read. Sir Runciman's observations and personal conclusions are well reasoned and seem unprejudiced. These volumes (3)are among the most enjoyable works I have read on the history of the crusades, I recommend them to anyone interested in a realistic but balanced look at the Crusades and their contributions to Western Civilization as well as their problematic execution. Pax Tecum Fr Bill
The very best on the subject.......2007-03-17
Runciman was a genius. A brilliant writer in English, whose grand ambitions never lead him astray from the most meticulous separation of fact from speculation, he was also an extraordinary polyglot. He read not only the Latin, Old French and Greek among the contemporary accounts of the Crusades, but the Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Hebrew, Gergian, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Norse and Mongolian as well, not to mention modern secondary works in many more languages still. If he shows any favoritism at all among the warring factions of the Crusades, then it is towards the Byzantine Greeks, although what looks like favoritism to me may only be due to my own ignorance. Even if I'm right about his favoring the Greeks, Runciman is still by far the most impartial historian of the Crusades known to me. He's certainly the only one who took the trouble and had the talent to read all the sources in the original. (Most people who've read widely in more than one language can probably appreciate how much tends to be lost in translation, not to mention how much is never translated at all.) As if his reading weren't enough, he often walked through the cities and over the battlefields which he describes in his works, in order to discover things which no one had yet written.
Runciman makes sweeping judgements and expresses strong opinions, although these are often decently hidden between the lines of his polite Cambridge prose. But all of his judgements and opinions have the support of the most solid scholarship.
I recommend the three-volume 'History of the Crusades'. The book 'The First Crusade' is an abridgement of the first volume, without footnotes or appendices or bibliography. In addition to the the three-volume history, I also have a copy of the abridgement 'The First Crusade', but it's the illustrated hardcover edition, ISBN 0521232554. I got it just for the pictures, many in color. The three volumes of the 'History of the Crusades' have a few black-and-white illustrations, and the paperback edition of 'The First Crusade' has no illustrations.
Not happy.......2006-02-25
I ordered this book twice, especially because the picture shows the book with a blue cover which is the Cambridge Press edition.The books I received were not from Canbridge Press and did not have the Appendix III which is the genealogy. These books came from paperbackshop in England. I feel that the genealogy is a very important part of this book and should always be included.
Gripping Tale of the Rise & Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.......2003-01-02
This second volume of Steven Runciman's three-volume history of the crusades is a masterful piece of scholarship and historiography. If all historians read Runciman's History of the Crusades and learned of his style, there would be fewer complaints from readers that histories are dry, crusty stories.
Indeed, Runciman artfully weaves several elements such as the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the zenith of Byzantium and the ascension of the Turkish power in the persons of Zenghi, Nur ed-din and Saladin powerful, gripping narrative that brings the rogues and heroes of the crusades to life. Runciman skillfully explains the court intrigues behind the scenes in the crusader kingdom and fiefdoms, the delicate balance of power between Byzantium and the Frankish east and the Turks and the rivalry between Turkish clans and leaders.
This second novel concerns the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, its place in the three-volume set is critical in that Runciman articulates a few of his his theories concerning the lessons learned from the crusades, and they are difficult to refute. Runciman of particular relevance to contemporary foreign policy in that region, Runciman notices that the politically fractious Turks discovered a unifying force in the presence of the alien Franks, which became a focal point in the development of a pan-Turkish/Muslin identity and a nexus for action. Also, Runciman argues that first-generation crusaders acclimated to local political and cultural customs and could have co-existed to some degree with the Turks and Muslims had it not been for the brash crusaders that arrived after the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and viewed the situation in more stark, black-and-white terms. Runciman also holds that the Latins could have made more effective use of Byzantium in formulating policy for the east rather than competing with it in some instances and altogether ignoring it in others. Finally, while Runciman assumes that the triumph of Islam in the crusades was an inevitability (mostly due to the policies chosen by the petty nobles that arrived in the east after the first crusade to aggrandize rather than consolidate crusader power) there were shrewd, far-sighted individuals and more of these distinguished men could have stemmed the tide a bit longer. In other words, qualities such as leadership and "the vision thing" are timeless.
The Counter-Crusade.......2002-08-04
Trite as it may seem, this book could accurately be subtitled, "The Arab Empire Strikes Back." Having been introduced to the knights of the First Crusade in the first instalment, the reader rejoins Kings Baldwin and Bohemund, their issue and successors and endures with them the steady erosion and corruption of the Frankish East. Meanwhile, the Arab Caliphs, despite their internal political divisions, undergo a military renaissance, leading, at the very end of this instalment, to the advent of Saladin, the fall of Antioch and the ultimate capture of Jerusalem. Among the highlights in this period are the steady evolution of the special military orders such as the Hospitallers and Templars, and (on the Muslim side) the Assassins.
Book Description
The word 'Crusades' has traditionally referred to the wars fought after the late eleventh century to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. Regan argues that they actually be-gan in the seventh century with the conquests of the Byzan-tine Empire by the Per-sians. In retaliation, the emperor Herac-lius used Christian propaganda to turn the war into the first crusade. Coincidentally, Heraclius's career was unfold-ing at the same time as that of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. No sooner had Heraclius overthrown the power of Persia and re-gained the Holy Land, than he lost it to the irresistibly strong Arabs. First Crusader is an entertaining and challenging rein-ter-pretation of the Crusades.
Customer Reviews:
A very accessible book.......2004-05-03
Regan's book writes in a style that is easy to understand and even fun to read. This was the first book I read dealing with the Byzantine Empire, it was good enough to warrant a topic switch in my major from Medieval studies, to Byzantine studies. Regan's book makes a clear cut and convincing case for emperor Heraclius of Byzantium, as the First Crusader. Though the book does not contain enough detail for my taste, it was still a captivating and informative read. This should be considered an informative introductory to the study of the Byzantine Empire.
A little more detail would have made it a good one.......2004-01-01
Geoffrey Regan's books are entertaining. Read his Military blunders 1&2, which by the way were much better books than this one. He wishes to elaborate on the first true crusader, Heraclius but starts off with his typical satire, related to the times of Constantine's father and the birth of Byzantium. The early history of Byzantium was unnecessary. He could have written more on Heraclius himself. The lack of description of key battles and undertakings do not do justice to a man who deserves more. There are a couple of interesting pictures. On the good aspect of the book. One gets to read a bit of interesting history and legends. The author uses good judgement to question the authenticity of the True Cross and the Holy Sepulchre. Overall i'd say its a good book to keep but i wont recommend buying the hardback version.
A fresh look at some little-known history.......2003-08-25
This book reminds us that Christian crusades to liberate Jerusalem's holy places long predate the so-called First Crusade of the eleventh century. More than four hundred years earlier, the Byzantine Empire used Christian themes in its struggles against threats from the East. Regan is particularly effective in describing the campaigns of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who regained Jerusalem from the Persians. Regan follows the story through the era of Islamic expansion, the Turkish conquests, and the first Western Crusade. Among other things, readers will discover the original Church of the Holy Sepulcher built by Constantine, much more impressive than the current version. Like the Jewish Temple, it was destroyed by invaders. The book, written in an accessible style, includes black and white photographs and some basic maps.
Wars of Heraclitus against the Persians.......2003-05-17
REVIEWED BY SMITH HEMPSTONE ...
When it comes to warrior-kings, the Byzantine emperor Heraclitus, who ruled Constantinople from 610 to 641 A.D., was in a league by himself. Few have risen so fast, and achieved so much in such a short time, only to lose all at the end.
Indeed, in "First Crusader: Byzantium's Holy Wars," the British historian Geoffrey Regan makes a convincing case that the wars of Heraclitus against the Sasanian Persians (622-628 A.D.) should rank as the first crusade rather than that from the West called by Pope Urban in 1095. Heraclitus smashed the Persian empire, recovering the flags and standards lost by 100 Byzantine armies over the centuries, regained the lost colonies of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, sacked a dozen great cities, brought back the True Cross from Persia and rebuilt the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre.
Whether you call the wars of the Christian Byzantines against the fire-worshipping Zoroastrian Persians crusades, or something else, the heroics of Heraclitus, who personally led his troops in battle and fought in single combat the champions of many enemy armies, had the effect of prolonging the life of the Eastern Roman empire for several centuries, delaying the Moslem advance into the Balkans by hundreds of years.
Both his personal life and his military successes combined to weaken Heraclitus toward the end of his reign. His popular first wife, Fabia-Eudokia, died in 612 A.D., leaving the emperor with only one male heir, not nearly enough to guarantee the succession. So Heraclitus married his beautiful and able niece, Martina, daughter of his sister, Maria. Although incestuous unions were not that unusual in those days, they were forbidden. But a significant group of the Byzantine establishment regarded the deaths of four of her disabled children as God's judgement on Martina, blaming her for defeats at the hands of the Moslem Arabs.
When Heraclitus died horribly of "dropsy" (cancer) this was taken as yet another sign of divine displeasure. The fates of Martina and her surviving sons: Martina's tongue was split and she was exiled to Rhodes with her eldest son, who had his nose cut off. Of her three other sons, two had their noses cut off and the youngest was castrated.
Like many another political leader, Heraclitus wanted to have both chariots and wine, and his wars proved ruinously expensive. Syria and Palestine had been regained but were denuded of their populations, their fields lay fallow and returned little revenue. Egypt was about to fall to Mohammed's desert Bedouin breaking out from Arabia.
The Orthodox Church, through the influence of Heraclitus' great friend and supporter, the Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople, had floated huge loans to pay for the wars. But now, except in distant Egypt, the wars were over and the church wanted its money back.
Heraclitus paid up, but only at the cost of his planned reform of the army and the civil service. Alexandria soon fell to the Moslems and much of Syria followed. By 674 A.D. the Moslem jihad had carried them to the gates of Constantinople. In desperation, the Byzantines fell back on their secret weapon: "Greek fire," a highly flammable mixture of tar, resin, sandarac and powdered sulphur mixed with dolphin and goat fat. It was ignited after passing through a hose and could not be put out with water. The Byzantine garrison of Constantinople used this primitive napalm to great effect against the Arab fleet and the wooden siege machines of the Moslems.
Their effective use of "Greek fire" and the arrival of Bulgar reinforcements and their King Tervel, resulted in over 20,000 Moslems killed. The Arabs abandoned the siege in 718 A.D., and the city was to block the Moslem invasion of Eastern Europe for another 700 years.
The millennium of Christ's death in 1033 A.D. triggered a wave of religious fervor that engulfed all Western Europe. What had been mere acts of faith evolved into a series of crusades whose objective was nothing less than the conquest of the Holy Land and its restoration to Christian rule.
What distinguished the Western crusaders from the earlier pilgrims was that by their acts they earned indulgences from the pope. These guaranteed protection of his family, lands and assets during his absence and granted the remission of sins should the crusader die in battle, with immediate entry into Paradise. In an age of faith, this was of no little consequence.
Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and by the Persians in 614 A.D. The Moslem Arabs had captured it in 638 A.D. In 1099 A.D. it was invested by the Western Crusaders and fell in a bloody massacre. After all the Moslems were dead and most of the Crusaders had sailed back to Europe, just 300 Christian knights and 2,000 infantry remained in the smoking ruins.
While Byzantium remained, it did so only as a shadow of its former days of greatness under Hiraclitus. Christian communities in the Near East could no longer expect help from Constantinople, which was to fall to the Ottoman Turks. As the gap grew greater between Latin Christianity and the Orthodox Church, Islam was rent by the division between Sunni and Shia and defeated in France and Hungary. It was not a time for greatness.
Book Description
One of the most magnificent books... putting it down is almost impossible. --Ocala Star-Banner
Customer Reviews:
WELL WRITEN WELL DONE. VERY INFORMATIVE.......2006-07-22
I enjoyed every page of this one. Not being an expert in this field, I certainly cannot vouch for each and every fact the author has given us, but the several facts I did take the time to further research proved the athor correct. The book is well written and in fact is quite a page turner. This is one of those I hated to stop reading and was rather sorry when I had finished it. It is important to understand this past era in order to understand where we are today. The consequences of the actions taken at that time are still being felt even to this day. Highly recommend this one.
Very Impressive.......2006-06-04
I am extremely impressed by the way Robinson conveyed the history of those tumultuous times in such a captivating manner. This work is rich in facts: both large and small, and all interesting. Aside from Templar history, I really appreciated Robinson's ability to clearly explain the major and minor players and the political machinery and machinations of all sides involved (Muslim factions, Hospitallers, Vanetians, the Popes, etc etc). Reading this work is a real learning experience, and Robinson's great writing is far from dry. After reading this book I will surely continue to read Robinson's other works.
Phenomenal - This is a must read .......2006-05-24
Where to start? This is a fantastic piece of work that takes you through the rise and fall of Templars. I would rate it better than Da-vinci code because this is no fiction. It is remarkable that a non-fiction work packs so much action and thrills. This is also the best account of Crusades that I have ever read. In addition, the author also touches upon the personal codes that governed the life of Templars (like the chastity belt, rules against bathing etc). All in all, I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested about Crusades or Templars
Good book, but there are better ones out there.......2006-03-05
John Robinson does a very good job in complining information about the Templar and presenting it in an interesting and readable fashion. I thoroughly enjoyed reading more about the Templar (and Robinson does include many details not found in the other Templar books I have read, contrary to those reviewers who claim it is all old material).
What I liked best about this book was its emphasis on context. Robinson does not just give an account of the Templar's doings; he provides an account of all the things which are happening around the Templars as well, which is essential for understanding the Templar.
I also liked Robinson's clear writing style. Some history book get you bogged down with dates and names, but Robinson does an excellent job of tying them together and helping you remember them so that events further into the book will make much more sense.
There are also two complaints I have about this book:
1. There are a number of small, careless mistakes which really should not have been there (i.e. slightly misquoting people, slightly incorrect dates, etc.) and which are rather annoying. As far as I can tell, none of his information is majorly wrong; he just does things like writing that events happened several weeks after another event when it was actually many months, so I guess it's not really a big deal.
2. He seemed rather biased against the Catholic Church. I myself am not Catholic, but even I do not think some of the things that they did were quite as bad as Robinson makes them out to be. For example, his comments to the effect that the charges of homosexuality against the Knights were very probably true because they had vows of chastity are simply underestimating the effect of religion upon people's lives and are just plain stupid. If the Templars couldn't take being chaste anymore, it is not very likely that they would choose to become homosexuals violating the ordinances of the Church rather than simply violating the laws of the Templar.
In conclusion, this was a very good book, but I think that there are better books on the subject out there. I would recommend Stephen Howarth's The Knights Templar. His book is slightly shorter (and thus has a little less detail), but it is also more accurate and is much more fun to read.
Overall grade: B+
Knights Templar 201 .......2005-04-28
Several readers have trashed this book, one saying 'Same old song in a new cover'. That reviewer then goes on to recommend two books written 10 years later.. That's probably why he thought that this was 'old'. While I can't compare this book to anything by Runciman or Tuchman, I will say that this is a pretty good book.
Before you buy this book, please pay attention to the title.. It is called 'Dungeon, Fire, & Sword The Knights Templar IN THE CRUSADES' In order to understand the impact of the KT in the crusades you have to understand the crusades themselves, and in order to understand the crusades, you need to understand the 'players', culture geography etc... The Crusades didn't revolve around the KT, they only played a part, albeit an integral one, in the crusades.
Yes this book is more than just the KT, and no it's not an in depth history of each of the crusades, but it's not supposed to be.. The reader should use this book as a building block about the KT, the crusades and even the Papal State.
What is interesting is that the more one reads about the KT the more you realize that there really is a lot of uncertainty and disagreement surrounding them. In his book, Howarth writes that the master of the Templars was never called the Grand Master, yet that is how Robinson refers to them. There were a few other descrepencies between the two books but nothing major.
The maps (all 3 of them) were ok. The tables of the 'players' in the back of the book were helpful.
I recommend this book.. Could you do better? Maybe, but with all of the junk that they are publishing about the KT these days you could do a heck of a lot worse.
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