God's War: A New History of the Crusades
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Review
Christopher Tyerman...has written a tome that...draws on the most recent scholarship and offers fresh insights, demolishing myths galore.--A. G. Noorani"Frontline" (05/04/2007)
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'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
40 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
If you liked this there's more historical debate and fun at @HistoryGems on Facebook and Twitter
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.
If you liked this there's more historical debate and fun at @HistoryGems on Facebook and Twitter
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is probably the most important book on Crusades released in last few years. Book is very hard to read, comprehensive, but when you read it careful you will see how valuable it is. It is not written as light narrative, but as scrupulous analysis of most important events in the history of Crusades. I hope that some particular events and persons will get such valuable monographs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
History Students Dream
This book has all you need if you want to add some real depth to any reaserch your doing. It is acedemic it is advance, it is not for light reading or a casual read unless you know... Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. A. John
A book to be admired rather than loved
This is certainly a comprehensive look at all of the various crusades including the ones against European pagans and heretics. Read more
Published 15 months ago by The Emperor
Tremendous scope and insight, but heavy going
I must confess at the start that I haven't read Runciman, but what I really liked about this book was its inclusive approach to history: Tyerman's's scope encompasses religious,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by S. J. Buck
An in depth study of the phenomenom of the crusades
With "God's War" Christopher Tyerman delivered a detailed, general history of 500 years of Christian, religious warfare, referred to as the crusades. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Azrael
An Epic Horror Tale
The crusades relied on the "skilful manipulation of aural, intellectual, emotional and visual perceptions". Read more
Published 22 months ago by demola
Hard going at times but very informative
An incredible look into the entire crusading era all the way from clermont in 1095 to Acre in 1291.
I have recently taken an interest in the crusades and this book has... Read more
I have recently taken an interest in the crusades and this book has... Read more
Published 23 months ago by john
It didn't hold my attention.
I first read in detail about the Crusades many years ago, and I found those three volumes by Sir Steven Runciman a fascinating and informative account of those events. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2010 by Hartland Sawtooth
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 on 17 Oct 2009 by S. Zacharias
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 on 4 Feb 2009 by P. Endersby
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
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