The World of the Crusades: An Illustrated Guide

This entertaining, informative volume from Tyerman (God’s War), professor of the history of the Crusades at Oxford University, considers the Crusades from a human level. Tyerman places the events within a wider context of the material world: whether that be the physical crosses that crusaders possessed; changes in commerce and how campaigns were financed that came about due to the sudden influx of western Europeans in the Middle East; the castles crusaders built or occupied, lived in, and defended or lost control of; or the food they ate. Tyerman proceeds chronologically from the First Crusade in 1096 through later crusade-like wars in the Baltic region and an area that is in what would be present day southern France and Northern Spain, giving the reader a guided tour of the major military conflicts of the medieval period in Europe. Maps and pictures are also included, allowing readers to easily track the campaigns and get a sense of the historical artifacts Tyerman references. Interspersed throughout are brief standalone articles on particular items of interest, such as crusader medicine the Children’s Crusade, and the lingering effects of the Crusades on the contemporary Middle East. Historians and lay readers interested in the history of European conquest in the Middle East will relish this investigation into the grist of the Crusaders’ journey. (June)