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A History of the Crusades Vol. I: The First Crusade and the Foundations of the Kingdom of Jerusalem |
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A History of the Crusades Vol. I: The First Crusade and the Foundations of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
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by Steven Runciman
Sales Rank: 256406
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$7.42
At Amazon
on 6-21-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 394 pages
Published by: Cambridge University Press December 25, 1987
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 052134770X
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0521347709
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
Weighs: 1 pounds
Product Review
'I do not know when, in recent years, I have read a book which so enlarged my knowledge of and interest in a period of history It sets before us one of the formidable moral and romantic epics of our time, with scholarship and imagination worthy of it.' The Times Literary Supplement
'The three volumes ring with battle trumpets and drums, glitter with the splendor of noble parades, and are replete with true stories of bravery and cowardliness, rash daring and wily intrigue To the specialist (Runicman) offers a wealth of new interpretations To the layman, he tenders romance and suspense at nearly every page.' The Yale Review
' the best scholarly survey of the subject by a single author. It will always remain the first considerable work of its kind in the English language.' The English Historical Review
'One of the grand historical monuments of the twentieth century Written with imagination and based on immense scholarship, (the volumes) are filled with true stories of rash daring and wily intrigue as the flower of Western knighthood assaults the infidel East for God, gold and glory.' Washington Post Book World
Product 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 deals completely with the First Crusade and the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem. As Runciman says in his preface: 'Whether we regard the Crusades as the most awesome and most romantic of Christian adventures, or as the last of the barbarian invasions, they form a central fact in medieval history. Before their inception the centre of our civilization was placed in Byzantium and in the lands of the Arab caliphate. Before they faded out the hegemony in civilization had passed to western Europe. Out of this transference modern history was born.'
Reader Reviews
Western Europe in the middle ages is often depicted as a static and insular social system--and, to be sure, certain aspects of medieval history support that impression. But the events described in this fine book challenge such portrayals, showing a Western Europe in the eleventh century that was intimately involved in the eastern Mediterranean. Runciman traces this interaction back to the Roman Empire, beginning his book with a charmingly concise yet informative history of Christian society in the East. We see how alert the West was to events in Asia Minor and the Levant: I was struck by how, a thousand years ago, tourism was such an important industry. Constantinople functioned almost as a modern-day theme park--with relics, art and architecture being the big-budget attractions--and as a crucial transportation hub along the pilgrimage route. The breakdown of this tourist industry due to local political instability--and its importance to the West--is what proximally prompted the Crusades. And in the Crusades themselves is reflected the dynamic nature of medieval political history; in particular we see the restless aspirations of the powerful Norman warlords (especially their somewhat disenfranchised younger sons) played out as a key military motor of the Crusades. Reading the background Runciman gives to the Normans (Christianized descendants of the Vikings), and the Seldjuks (Islamized descendants of Turkish nomads), I could not help but notice a certain loose symmetry to their stories, and it didn't seem so odd that they would meet at the interface of the two great Mediterranean faiths. There is much that I found eye-opening in the narrative: from the murderous anti-Jewish pogroms in Western Europe that the Crusaders used as warm-up exercises, to the pathetic lawlessness of their course through Hungary and Byzantium, to the Monty-Pythonesque absurdities of the "medieval mind" (e.g., the throng of German peasants led to the Crusades by "a goose that had been inspired by God"). As an aside, while this may seem to be a very male-oriented subject, in fact a female is probably the most important personality in Runciman's work: it relies most heavily on the account of Anna Comnena, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius. Runciman repeatedly makes a passionate case for accepting her chronicle as the most trustworthy of the contemporary accounts, and uses it extensively in his reconstruction.
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A History of the Crusades Vol. I: The First Crusade and the Foundations of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Available from Amazon
Price: $7.42
Updated on 6-21-2008.
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