Internal Arabic Turmoil
One of the best things about this book is that we get the general internal political happenings of the Arabs during the time of the crusades and we get to know how they effected history. For example early in the crusades the Arabic scheming against other Arabs helped lead to the fall of other Arab city states at the hands of the invaders. Internal affairs among the Arabs continued to help out the invaders for over a century until the Arabs were forced into a more unified position against the push of the Crusaders.
Rise of Saladin
I was particularly interested in Saladin who is a primary character in the history of the crusades from both camps. He was also portrayed in the Kingdom of Heaven movie and I really looked forward to reading about how he came to leadership. I was suprised to read that his position was primary the result of good fortune in first his appointment as vizier in Egypt and then his succession or Nur al-Din.
Doesn't overly demonize the Crusaders
I found that the author didn't go out of his way to make the Crusaders into the bad guys like I thought he would. He of course points out how the Franj were viewed from the Islamics. Their barbaric nature, their love for alcohol and of course the cannibalism episode but doesn't over embellish. Whenever stating some account of the time he points out that many Arabs of the time liked to "over do it" for the sake propaganda.
When I read more about Amin Maalouf I found out that he was a Christian Arab which gives him a different perspective.(I had assumed he was Islamic) In the past when I'd read books written by Islamics I found them to be very pro-Islam and very much against everything else. I expected much of that to happen in this book due to lack of knowledge on the author and was pleasantly suprised. After reading the circumstances of his life I think he was perfect to write a book on such a subject.
Events sound very similar to the movie
Reading about the events that transpired where Saladin retook Jerusalem they were very similar to the Kingdom of Heaven movie. If you liked the movie you should at least read the pages that cover that era.
Worth the Read
This book isn't really a history book so its much easier to read than history books. It reads to me like a long newspaper article actually and is quite good. I think anyone who wants to know more about the era of the Crusades should pick it up. It's worth your time.
Jerry Wayne Odom Jr. April 25, 2006
