- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Imprint Unknown; 1 edition (18 Oct 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0028642430
- ISBN-13: 978-0028642437
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 18.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 300,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Crusades
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the Crusades is a journey into the clash between Christianity and Islam in a two-hundred-year battle for the soul of man and the profits of trade. It was a time when western civilization brought the world such items as chastity belts, razors, stained glass, perfume, gunpowder, the compass, and even public latrines. The book will record every step of this 1,000-mile journey: the epic battles of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Acre and, ultimately, the battle for the souls of all men. It was a war that, in many ways, is still being fought today in various spots on the globe.
About the Author
Paul L. Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Wilkes University, a Master of Divinity degree from Drew University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Drew. He also received six academic scholarships and a teaching fellowship from Lehigh University. Paul has taught theology, humanities, medieval history, and philosophy at the University of Scranton.
After writing a series of feature articles on religion for the National Review, our author became existentially shipwrecked in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he became a holy hermit. On select occasions, he emerged from his secluded castle to battle dragons, to save damsels in distress, to engage in holy war, and to write such inspired works as The Moral Philosophy of Peter Abelard (The University Press of America), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Catholic Church But Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication (Doubleday), and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Lives of the Saints. He has also penned a series of scripts for CBS and Allied Artists.
This distinguished knight has championed the cause of the disenfranchised and the oppressed by serving as an award-winning newspaper reporter who captured three first-prize Keystone Press awards in three different categories in the same year—a feat that remains unmatched by any other crusading reporter. His long-suffering and pious wife, Patricia, serves as a schoolteacher for the Abington Heights (Pennsylvania) School District. They have a beautiful, intelligent, and radiant daughter, Princess Katherine, who came from Heaven, as Paul in days of yore lost the singular key to his good wife's chastity belt.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I used to have this book, the previous reviewer is correct, it's full of inaccuracies, fantasy and mistakes. Normally, unwanted books go to the charity shop, this was thrown in the bin, it's not even worth giving away. How anyone who knew so little about the medieval period could write a book on the subject is beyond me. Perhaps Paul L Williams PH.D was too busy writing his other books to do any proper research? A Complete Idiots Guide to The Saints appeared in June 2001, his book on Mother Theresa appeared in December 2001, this appeared in October 2001, so it obviously didn't take him too long to write. It shows.
There are many good books on the subject of the Crusades, this isn't one of them. You actually know less about the subject after reading this book, buy something else
There are many good books on the subject of the Crusades, this isn't one of them. You actually know less about the subject after reading this book, buy something else
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read the introductory chapter of this book and couldn’t bring myself to continue; it’s a total fantasy of mediaeval life. There are ludicrously wild generalisations, such as the assertion that mediaeval meat, even the most prestigious kinds, was "poorly prepared and undercooked", and that "the huts of the peasants are one-room hovels constructed of rough wood or sod" (really? That's in the whole of Europe, then, from Denmark to Sicily?) and plain untruths, such as that the peasants were deformed by rickets caused by malnutrition on a diet that included "grass as a principal staple". (Not only was there no part of Europe where grass was a normal food, but rickets is actually caused by a lack of sunlight, calcium and phosphorus - so anybody who did farm work and ate greens would be very unlikely to get it! Rickets only became common in the heavily-polluted cities of the Industrial Revolution.) The author also asserts that the “jus primae noctis” existed in England, something that no historian has ever claimed (in fact historians agree that the “jus primae noctis” is a fantasy which didn't exist anywhere in Europe). He goes on to say that the peasant farming was so inefficient that they couldn't grow enough food; "without iron tools, they can't plough the land". Tripe! Archaeology has shown that the farming technology of early mediaeval Europe was perfectly capable of sustaining good levels of production.
Then there are wild bits of Grand Guignol such as the idea that when people bit into blood sausages "the blood spurts from your mouth. You can't wipe it away." Rubbish: it’s actually impossible to produce a sausage that does this, because when blood is cooked it rapidly becomes dense, solid, dark in colour, highly nutritious and delicious. (It's called black pudding).
If this extract is typical of the rest, then this book might make a good Monty Python sketch but can't possibly call itself history.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
14 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Better than a Movie
9 July 2002
Format:Paperback
When I went to school, history began in 1492. If we regarded Europe at all, it was with the annoyed curiosity of a kid who finds a bow with no arrows. That's what Europe was without us - and it served them right for being so mean. No sitting around musty castles for us. Our history skipped over all the boring stuff. We'd jump right in with Columbus, following every nail-biting, cliff-hanging turn as he battled the raging seas.
Because our history begins relatively late on the world's timeline, we have no knowledge of the crusades or most events that happened prior to Queen Isabella's reign. If you mention the crusades, most of us envision a knight in shining armor (or dirty tunic) rushing into battle. That's it. We can't elaborate, but we know it was a long, drawn out European something or other. All we know is that we shouldn't talk about it. (Remember the outcry when Bush called the war on terrorism a "crusade"?)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Crusades is EXCELLENT for those of us who like our history lessons full of action. I have little patience for history that is taught by forcing people to memorize names and dates. Instead, TCIG to the Crusades is very funny and smartly written. I finished it in two days and couldn't put it down, wanting to see what would happen next. It's inspired me to find out more about the Crusades and the history of Christian/Muslim relations. Please do yourself a favor and add this to your library.
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful
A "Complete" masterpiece.........
17 Aug 2002
Format:Paperback
If you have ever wanted to know anything or everything about "The Crusades", from the first and most successful,to the third and most famous, all the way down to the last and most tragic, this work is an absolutly wonderful way to satisfy that thirst for knowledge. Not only is it entertaining from cover to cover, but the two authors made it so reader friendly that it was hard for me to put it down......not a big deal....but when it was time for the bookstore to close, it was a big deal. I truly am delighted to have read this book and be the owner of a copy myself.
23 of 30 people found the following review helpful
A grotesque parody of "history"
4 Sep 2005
Format:Paperback
The on-line extract of this book is a total fantasy of mediaeval life. There are ludicrously wild generalisations, such as the assertion that mediaeval meat, even the most prestigious kinds, was "poorly prepared and undercooked", and that "the huts of the peasants are one-room hovels constructed of rough wood or sod" (really? That's in the whole of Europe, then, from Denmark to Sicily?) and plain untruths, such as that the peasants were deformed by rickets caused by malnutrition on a diet that included "grass as a principal staple". (Not only was there no part of Europe where grass was a normal food, but rickets is actually caused by a lack of sunlight, calcium and phosphorus - so anybody who did farm work and ate greens would be very unlikely to get it! Rickets only became common in the heavily-polluted cities of the Industrial Revolution.) The author also asserts that the jus primae noctis existed in England, something that no historian has ever claimed (in fact all serious historians now agree that the jus primae noctis is a fantasy which didn't exist anywhere in Europe). He goes on to say that the peasant farming was so inefficient that they couldn't grow enough food; "without iron tools, they can't plough the land". Tripe! Archaeology has shown that the farming technology of early mediaeval Europe was perfectly capable of sustaining good levels of production.
Then there are wild bits of Grand Guignol such as the idea that when people bit into blood sausages "the blood spurts from your mouth. You can't wipe it away." Rubbish: if you cook blood in a sausage casing it rapidly becomes dense, solid, dark in colour, highly nutritious and delicious. It's called black pudding.
If this extract is typical of the rest, then this book might make a good Monty Python sketch but can't possibly call itself history.
Then there are wild bits of Grand Guignol such as the idea that when people bit into blood sausages "the blood spurts from your mouth. You can't wipe it away." Rubbish: if you cook blood in a sausage casing it rapidly becomes dense, solid, dark in colour, highly nutritious and delicious. It's called black pudding.
If this extract is typical of the rest, then this book might make a good Monty Python sketch but can't possibly call itself history.
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