Crusaders

The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands

By: Dan Jones

Narrated by: Dan Jones

Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A major new history of the Crusades with an unprecedented wide scope, told in a tableau of portraits of people on all sides of the wars, from the author of Powers and Thrones.

For more than 1,000 years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era.

Expanding the usual timeframe, Jones looks to the roots of Christian-Muslim relations in the eighth century and tracks the influence of crusading to present day. He widens the geographical focus to far-flung regions home to so-called enemies of the Church, including Spain, North Africa, southern France, and the Baltic states. By telling intimate stories of individual journeys, Jones illuminates these centuries of war not only from the perspective of popes and kings, but from Arab-Sicilian poets, Byzantine princesses, Sunni scholars, Shi'ite viziers, Mamluk slave soldiers, Mongol chieftains, and barefoot friars.

Crusading remains a rallying call to this day, but its role in the popular imagination ignores the cooperation and complicated coexistence that were just as much a feature of the period as warfare. The age-old relationships between faith, conquest, wealth, power, and trade meant that crusading was not only about fighting for the glory of God, but also, among other earthly reasons, about gold. In this richly dramatic narrative that gives voice to sources usually pushed to the margins, Dan Jones has written an authoritative survey of the holy wars with global scope and human focus.

©2019 Dan Jones (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Jones’s writing aims at a you-are-there effect . . . The immediacy of [his] book is enhanced by physical and psychological descriptions of the heroes and villains of the story . . . Some of Jones’s primary sources are little known, and even enthusiasts for the subject may never have heard of the Russian Daniel the Abbot, Saint Neophytos the Recluse, or La Chronique de Morigny."—The New York Review of Books

"Every page of [Dan Jones'] extraordinary book provides vivid evidence of the Crusades’ continuing ability to mesmerise...Amid the juicy anecdotes, the great strength of this book is the way in which it illuminates the human networks that underpinned the Crusades."—The Times (UK)

“Jones’ sweeping coverage of a conflict of three centuries’ duration hews to the highest standards of popular history. It is literate, thoroughly engaging, and serious, without condescension towards either its matter or its readers.”—Booklist (*starred*)

Rich in Primary Sources

This book was written by the historian who advises the the TV series Knightfall and is his fourth of five audiobooks that I've heard. The author provides generous primary sources from both sides of the conflict and provides both favorable and unfavourable opinions as well as commentary from contemporary writers. The book gives a unique perspective from the third-party Mongols and on the Crusades waged on non-Muslim pagans/heretics in France and the Baltics.

Great Narrator, Great Story

Great job by the author on the story and narration. He really did a good job with the narration as well.

I need to listen to this a few times!

A deluge of information, too immense to grab it all in one reading. Very interesting, especially as I lived in Syria for a number of years. I had no idea the Mongols had taken Aleppo, Damascus and other major cities.

a great 101 on the topic of crusades

this book was a surprisingly great little read. it is not the most in-depth telling of the crusades but it gives a great broad overview using characters from real life make the story entertaining. stay for the end because the epilogue is also great. 11/10

Fascinating history

Much new information (to me) here in exhaustive detail. Reinforced my belief in how primitive and brutal humas can be. Rape. pillage torture and mass murder all in the service of avarice and fanaticism wrapped in religion Vainglorious men stocked by testosterone and ego. Fascinating and profoundly disturbing.

I loved it!

I'm a history buff as well as a sociologist, so this book was right up my alley. Insightful, prescient and skillfully narrated, this book was a joy from start to finish. Bravo!

Lively History

Dan Jones has a distinct talent for making distant times vivid and understandable. Topics not ordinarily of interest are engrossing in his recounting.

Interesting

A little slow but very informing. It is worth your effort os perservire.and you will surely k
Leasrn a new detail or two.

Fabulous history of the Crusades!

Dan Jones is a fine historian who writes so that the characters come to life and the events are well explained. Jones' reading is clear and his voice is pleasant in the narrative. If I have any complaint, it is that not all of the participants are listed anywhere in the book. My interest was in the Europeans who took the cross during all of the Crusades. Perhaps there is not a complete list of those who went on Crusade. There is a list of the major players, endnotes, bibliography and index for those who are looking for the source material. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Crusades.

In-depth and Interesting

I thoroughly enjoy Dan Jones’ ability to bring academic knowledge to an interesting story. I’m on constant watch for new Dan Jones material available on Audible.