- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber (22 Oct 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571210570
- ISBN-13: 978-0571210572
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 17.5 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 379,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Top of George W. Bush's reading list is this 'engrossing story of a fabled conflict' (Independent on Sunday). 'Saladin and Richard the Lionheart shared the great common ethos of the time: the code of chivalry. James Reston Jr rides with them in the late 12th-century Third Crusade. Well aware that war makes for a rattling story, he devotes his gift for words to the construction of a thrilling narrative'. Economist; 'The varied landscapes of the Holy Land are described with the visual awareness of a topographical painter, and both the ecstasy and the horror of medieval warfare are tellingly evoked'. Sunday Telegraph
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
The story of the Third Crusade, and the two men who dictated its outcome: Saladin, hero of the Islamic world and Richard the Lionheart. Richard and the King of France led a European army of several hundred thousand warriors, but Saladin's manoeuvres resulted in the crusaders retreat and the demise of the Third Crusade,
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First Sentence
EARLY IN The TWELFTh CENTURY, IN The city of Tovin in northern Armenia close to Georgia, there lived an eminent family of Kurds, the master of whose house was surnamed Najm ad-Din, which meant "excellent prince and a star of religion." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
EARLY IN The TWELFTh CENTURY, IN The city of Tovin in northern Armenia close to Georgia, there lived an eminent family of Kurds, the master of whose house was surnamed Najm ad-Din, which meant "excellent prince and a star of religion." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although I fully agree with the 5 star-rating already given, I think this book also deserves an enthousiastic endorsement. After having in an earlier book uncovered a largely ignored period in European history (the highly informative and entertaining The Last Apocalypse, also available through Amazon), James Reston takes us now on the much more familiar path of the Crusades. He paints a vivid and colourful portrait of the third crusade's main characters, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin and Philip Augustus of France and gives us a refreshingly unbiased history of that expedition.
Mr. Preston has the narrative talent, the mischievous eye for less-than-elevated motives and telling anecdote that will make you want to read this book in one go. The fact that Richard and Philip were em, interacting homosexuals - the first the moustache and leather cap-wearing kind, the second more the bitchy hairdresser - is maybe mentioned a tad too often, but most other descriptions and background stories give a wonderful and highly readable insight in not only the third crusade, but also in the political situation and personal development of the main characters that propelled them to the center stage. You won't regret buying this book.
Mr. Preston has the narrative talent, the mischievous eye for less-than-elevated motives and telling anecdote that will make you want to read this book in one go. The fact that Richard and Philip were em, interacting homosexuals - the first the moustache and leather cap-wearing kind, the second more the bitchy hairdresser - is maybe mentioned a tad too often, but most other descriptions and background stories give a wonderful and highly readable insight in not only the third crusade, but also in the political situation and personal development of the main characters that propelled them to the center stage. You won't regret buying this book.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Being very interested in what has to be arguably the most epic conflict in medieval history, especially the Richard/Saladin period of the conflict, I had high hopes that this book (as numerous others have been) would be informative and accurate. However by the first page of the introduction I found myself puzzled by the sentence 'The madness was initiated in the name of religion by a Pope of the Christian church, Urban II, in 1095 as a measure to redirect the energies of warring European barons from their bloody local disputes into a "noble" quest to reclaim the holy land from the "infidel"'. Anyone with even a basic understanding of medieval politics/government or for that matter how and why the first crusade was called will be able to see the authors misunderstanding of the whole episode( the "pope of the Christian church", whilst a small point was of great amusement to me). Then there's the constant barrage that Richard was a homosexual (a theory based on the fact that he didn't sire an heir for which there could be numerous reasons). Whilst there is no actual evidence that he was or wasn't homosexual the "author" has already made his mind up and teaches Richards homosexuality as fact almost entirely based on the Quote '"Had their love lasted" lamented a chronicler "they would have been honoured for all time, and christendom would have been exalted"'. The quote alludes to the relationship between Richard and Philip Augustus. One can only assume that Reston is unaware as to the nature of the conflicts between Richard, Richard's father Henry II, and Phillip Augustus in which Richard and Phillip rebelled against Henry II numerous times often as an alliance. The Fact Richard was betrothed to Phillips sister for many years before Phillip was even King of France coupled with the documented friendship and mutual respect that Richard and Phillip held when they were children it seems the "author" is unable to understand "love" as meaning anything more than physical attraction ( the very thought that medieval Catholic Europe would tolerate it's two mightiest Kings as homosexual and exalt them as being so again shows the "authors" lack of understanding of the politics involved). The book is written as a narrative, a fairy tale if you will in which Reston has hastily thrown together a historical event and then gave Richard, Saladin and the other protagonists each a personality which best fits his fairy tale.
The picture on the front is "Richard I in Palastine" by Phillip James de Loutherbourg.....Proof to NOT judge a book by its cover.
The picture on the front is "Richard I in Palastine" by Phillip James de Loutherbourg.....Proof to NOT judge a book by its cover.
27 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Warriors of God is a novelistic treatment of the third crusade that is fairly readable, but does not stand up as a work of history. It is pacily written, but the author uses considerable artistic licence.
The fundamental problems lie first in the impression that the author has not really grasped the medieval period, something evident particularly in the early chapters, where there are some sweeping statements with no factual basis, and gross and inaccurate over-simplifications. Reston's use of modern terminology is more often misleading rather than illuminating. (In this respect, the book suffers badly in comparison with something like Rubicon, where Tom Holland did a much better job of conveying the essential strangeness of his period to a modern reader, while drawing parallels with today more subtly.) More serious is a failure to adequately explain the concept and attraction of crusading itself, something central to understanding the period.
The second key flaw is the author's determination to present a revisionist view of the period, with the Christians firmly established as the bad guys. The Christians were doubtless responsible for some terrible atrocities, but there is no real effort to explain why this happened or put it in the context of the time. The author presents the crusades as a perversion of the defensive concept of 'holy war', without any reference to the preceding centuries of rapid Islamic expansion. The line is at least set out clear in the introduction, where the crusades are described as 'a frenzy of hate and violence unprecedented before the advent of the technological age and the scourge of Hitler'.
I had high hopes for this, as I have studied the crusades and think it is good to bring history to a wider audience, but I was very disappointed. A wasted opportunity.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
warriors of god
Excellent service. Great condition.. Arrived as described,very pleased with product, looking forward to viewing disc. Well done Amazon and supplier.
Published 7 months ago by Frank Walsh
A Stunning Story of Rivals
James Reston's book on Richard Lionheart and Saladin is a great way to show people that even if are from different sides of the world, you can still have many of the same values... Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2009 by Edward Rex
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Mr Reston has done a great job in researching and preparing for this book. His fiction is largely based on fact and his characters, though mostly silent, are as vivid and alive as... Read more
Published on 18 May 2005
A book that should be read with the conflict in the M.E
For a start this book does not choose sides, so both muslims and chritians can read it. The book may be boring for those who do not like history but there is quiet alot of maps to... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2002 by "khawli7"
A superb book
Reading this book has you believing that the crusade happened yesterday and that you are reading a news report. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2001
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