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God's War: a New History of the Crusades (Allen Lane History)
 
 
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God's War: a New History of the Crusades (Allen Lane History) (Hardcover)

by Christopher Tyerman (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 1040 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane (31 Aug 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0713992204
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713992205
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.4 x 6.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 232,303 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #18 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Conflict

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Product Description

The Times Literary Supplement

`Magisterial ... catches the feverish, visionary spirituality of the age' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.


New York Review of Books

`God's War is a first-rate, scholarly, up-to-date, and highly readable survey of the entire crusading movement ... sane, informed, and gripping' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Move over Sir Steven Runciman , 2 Nov 2006
By Thomas Gray (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Suddenly Runciman's 50 year old grand narrative of the crusades is surpassed. Tyerman does not write quite as sweetly, but he has a strong narrative drive, and an eye for character, and he is alive to the complexity of the cataclysmic encounter between East and West. There are no simplistic goodies and baddies, and the crusaders in particular are shown acting with rapacity and cruelty as well as courage and piety. The results good and bad live with us to this day. Tyerman helps to show up the misinterpetations which feed much discord between the once-Christian West and Islam.
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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A flawed masterpiece, 20 Jun 2007
By J. Duducu (Ruislip) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Read the other reviews and you will see people either find this essential or annoyingly flawed. They are both right. No book has attempted to encompass not only the Eastern Crusades but also the crusading efforts in Northern Europe, Spain and looking at the later crusades too. Never has so much info covering so many cultures been crammed into 1 volume.

But, and it is a big but, there is an old literary saying "if you have a complex tale to tell then tell it simply" and this is where the book falls down. The language is dry and uses words such as fissiparous which means not only do you have to keep a plethora of characters, dates and events in your mind but you have to keep reaching for the dictionary too. It is also curiously unemotional when it comes to key/epic moments of the Crusades. I think Tyreman has confused being unbiased (which is appropriate given the topic)with being bland.

Also while the research is exhaustive and exhausting I do think the balance is a little odd, do we really need an exact itinerary of the preaching of the Second Crusade, Third Crusade and so on on to skim over things like what were the weapons and tactics of East versus West (this is hardly ever mentioned and never in any depth). Don't get me wrong the preaching is vital to the story but what made the crusades the crusades was the fighting and this does not get the same scrutiny as the liturgies going on in the Rhineland.

Saying that even an expert on the Crusades will find something new here, it's a very big mountain to climb (it took me months to get through and nobody can absorb it all after reading it just once) but the views from the top are spectacular.
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32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning research, 4 Sep 2006
When Christian fervour met Islamic resistance, the centuries of crusading and warfare that followed were to shape the modern world like nothing before or since, and an indelible mark was left on the consciences of both religions. Told with passion and academic flair, Tyerman's definitive and engrossing chronicle of the Crusades reads like a centuries-old epic of war, arrogance and the clash of cultures. Its place should be assured on the bookshelves of all politicians.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Tough going, but good
It took me the best part of two months to wade through this book. About six weeks of that was after the third crusade and I think this highlights my main criticism. Read more
Published 23 days ago by S. Zacharias

4.0 out of 5 stars God's War
For over fifty years Sir Steven Runciman's epic three volume A History of the Crusades was the authoritative source for those seeking to understand that tumultuous period of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ms. E. Britton

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Dr Tyerman.
This is not a light or easy read, but given the complexity and scale of the events covered that is not to be expected. Read more
Published 9 months ago by P. Endersby

2.0 out of 5 stars Heavy going and boring
Big book, but does not seem to say a lot. I found it boring in the extreme without any real depth. A disappointment as I had expected more information and background on the... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2007 by Steve

2.0 out of 5 stars Stay put, Sir Steven Runciman
It may be many decades since Sir Steven Runciman wrote his history of the crusades but his works still hold the double crown of interest and scholarliness. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2007 by Michael Wilson

2.0 out of 5 stars Too long and slightly disappointing
This is a mammoth and very ambitious book. The range of subjects covered is impressive but unfortunately the range is not quite matched by the depth. Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2006 by harold

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