Coinciding with the 900th anniversary of the Crusades, this book is the first general introduction to some of the wider aspects of the history of the Crusades. Prepared by Carole Hillenbrand, a leading authority with a world-wide reputation, The The Crusade is unique in covering the Crusades from the Muslim perspective; it is also a timely reflection on how the phenomenon of the Crusades influenced the Muslim world, then and now--militarily, culturally, and psychologically. The Crusades discusses a group of themes designed to highlight how Muslims reacted to the alien presence of the Crusaders in the heart of traditional Muslim territory. Ideological concerns are examined, and the importance of the concept of jihad is assessed in the context of the gradual recovery of the Holy Land and the expulsion of the Crusaders. There are also chapters devoted to an analysis of the warfare--arms, battles, sieges, fortifications--on the basis of written sources and extant works of art. Also extensively discussed is the complex issue of the interaction between Muslims and Crusaders in a social, economic, and cultural setting. The epilogue traces the profound impact of the Crusades on Muslim consciousness up to the present day. The Crusades is also lavishly illustrated with 500 black-and-white pictures and two full color-plate sections.
Biography
Carole Hillenbrand is Honorary Professorial Fellow, Professor Emerita at the University of Edinburgh. In 2005 she became the first non-Muslim scholar to be awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies, reflecting her 'revolutionary approach to the largely one-sided subject of the Crusades'. She is author of The Crusades (EUP, 1999), The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate (Albany, 1989), A Muslim Principality in Crusader Times (Brill, 1990), and co-editor (with C. E. Bosworth) of Qajar Iran, (Edinburgh, 1984) and editor of The Sultan's Turret (Brill, 1999).
"The crusades seem to be an exception to the general rule that the victors write the history. Now, nine centuries later, Hillenbrand (Arabic and Islamic studies, University of Edinburgh) provides an account that relies entirely on Islam perspectives and emphasizes the impact of the European invasion of its heartland... the impact of the Crusade on Muslim consciousness until the present." -- Reference and Research Book News
"Hillenbrand's book is a landmark... The Crusades is not narrowly focused on ideological and literary matters. Hillenbrand devotes attention to arms and armor, warfare, and details of material culture in the region. It is appropriate then that the book is heavily illustrated...all drawn from the repertoire of Islamic art and architecture. The concluding survey of the political and psychological aftermath of the Crusades in the Middle East is fascinating." -- London Review of Books
