The recapture of Jerusalem, the siege of the Acre, the fall of Tripoli, the effect in Baghdad of events in Syria; these and other happening were faithfully recorded by Arab historians during the two centuries of the Crusades. For the first time contemporary accounts of the fighting between Muslim and Christian have been translated into English, and the Western reader can learn 'the other side' of the Holy War. Seventeen authors are represented in the extracts in this work, which have been drawn from various types of historical writings. The excerpts are taken firstly from the general histories of the Muslim world, then from chronicles of cities, regions and their dynasties, and finally from biographies or records of the deeds of certain persons.The Arab histories of the Crusades compare favorably with their Christian counterparts in their rich accumulation of material and chronological information. Another of their merits is their faithful characterization, which they practiced in the brief but illuminating sketches of enemy leaders: Baldwin II's shrewdness, Richard Coeur de Lion's prowess in war, the indomitable energy of Conrad of Motferrat, Frederick II's diplomacy. The chronicles are generous, naturally, with their praises of the great champions of the Muslim resistance, especially of Saladin, who towers above all the other leaders in heroic stature. This book gives a sweeping and stimulating view of the Crusades seen through Arab eyes.
Arab Historians of the Crusades (Routledge Revivals)
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'Professor Gabrieli has been completely successful in presenting a precise, vivid and impartial picture of these two centuries of relations between the Arabic-speaking world of the Middle East and the Christian world of Europe' - Asian Affairs
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By Tania
Format:Paperback
I think this book hosts a great collection of sources. The extracts on Salah Ud-Din are particularly overwhelming. Good book for any student of history.
By M. Malthouse
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is clearly a valuable book bringing translations to Italian and thence other languages of some Arabic texts not otherwise available when it was first published.
But for me as a casual reader of history rather than a formal student I could have done with some analysis, perhaps even comparison with contemporary Western texts and some comment whether the Arabic texts are believed to give a more reliable picture.
For instance I know that battle accounts often inflate numbers of participants and dead but there is no indication here whether the figures given are credible.
I am aware that Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes has been criticised but it made a better read, leaving me feeling I'd been informed whereas the Costello makes me question where I should be doubting what I read and gives no help working it out.
The e-text itself is a great disappointment. There is a disclaimer saying that it has been optimised for MobiPocket PDA; on the Kindle the characters i-macron, u-macron, ae-ligature and Greek letters are malformed, being sized larger than the upper case standard of the typeface distorting the line spacing, curiously i-macron is fine: using the macron diacritic to mark long stressed vowels they litter just about every page. Another fault is that it has obviously been through a too-smart word processor: leading apostrophes - which abound in transliterated Arabic - appearing as quote marks. For £14.50 I think one has the right to expect much better. In fact offering a MobiPocket e-text as a Kindle book from the Kindle store with these faults strikes me as sharp practice.
But for me as a casual reader of history rather than a formal student I could have done with some analysis, perhaps even comparison with contemporary Western texts and some comment whether the Arabic texts are believed to give a more reliable picture.
For instance I know that battle accounts often inflate numbers of participants and dead but there is no indication here whether the figures given are credible.
I am aware that Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes has been criticised but it made a better read, leaving me feeling I'd been informed whereas the Costello makes me question where I should be doubting what I read and gives no help working it out.
The e-text itself is a great disappointment. There is a disclaimer saying that it has been optimised for MobiPocket PDA; on the Kindle the characters i-macron, u-macron, ae-ligature and Greek letters are malformed, being sized larger than the upper case standard of the typeface distorting the line spacing, curiously i-macron is fine: using the macron diacritic to mark long stressed vowels they litter just about every page. Another fault is that it has obviously been through a too-smart word processor: leading apostrophes - which abound in transliterated Arabic - appearing as quote marks. For £14.50 I think one has the right to expect much better. In fact offering a MobiPocket e-text as a Kindle book from the Kindle store with these faults strikes me as sharp practice.
Format:Paperback
Really excellent source of historical information and background. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
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