First Crusade

The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge—a renowned historian who writes with “maximum vividness” (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker)—covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious...

Beginning in 1095 and culminating four bloody years later, the First Crusade represented a new kind of warfare: holy, unrestrained, and apocalyptic. In Armies of Heaven, medieval historian Jay Rubenstein tells the story of this cataclysmic event through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders.

From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T'ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled.

Throughout the Gulf War of 1991, unprecedented restrictions on the media’s access to the battlefield kept the true story of that brief, brutal conflict from being told. Now, after two years of intensive research, Rick Atkinson has written what will surely come to be recognized as the definitive chronicle of the war.

Spring, 1096. Europe’s princes march their armies toward the Holy Land. They are accompanied by tens of thousands of pilgrims, led by a fiery preacher Peter the Hermit. Their destination is Jerusalem, the holiest of all Christian cities. Their goal is to conquer the Muslim occupation. History will call them the First Crusade. Among the pilgrims is Oderic of Rheims, a Benedictine monk from Eastern France. He's devoted to the cause, but the Crusade will test every vow he swore to the Church. His poverty will be challenged by greed, his obedience tempted by blood lust.

Zoe Brennan may be the loneliest lesbian in Blue Ridge, but at least she has her family vineyard to keep her busy. When a prestigious wine festival announces it’s coming to town, it kicks off a battle royale among local vineyards vying for the opportunity to host it. Zoe’s in it to win it—being chosen would put Bluebell Vineyards on the map, and she could stick it to the vineyard next door, run by her ex-best friend (now enemy), Rachel. But when Zoe’s father is called home to Italy to care for his sick mother, Bluebell is left without a vintner.

The First Crusade is one of the best-known and most written-about events in history, but in this new book Dr Peter Frankopan asks vital questions that have never been posed before. This is the only book to address the history of the First Crusade from the perspective of the East, examining the role of the Byzantine Empire and its ruler, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. 

At the culmination of his extensive military career, the 11th-century Norman adventurer, mercenary, and warlord Robert Guiscard, alongside his younger brother Roger of Hauteville, achieved a remarkable feat: the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily, transforming the Mezzogiorno into a formidable new Norman state. As Guiscard ascended to power as Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, he compelled both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor to capitulate, even launching an audacious invasion of the Byzantine Empire via the Balkans at the peak of his authority. Guiscard's son, the larger-than-...

In the second half of the tenth century, Byzantium embarked on a series of spectacular conquests. By the early eleventh century, the empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. Yet this imperial project came to a crashing collapse fifty years later, when political disunity, fiscal mismanagement, and defeat at the hands of the Seljuks and the Normans brought an end to Byzantine hegemony. By 1081, Byzantium's very existence was threatened.

The 14th century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.

"Crusade" was first published in 1968 in The Farthest Reaches. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Black Widows: Season 1 includes the complete first season of six Black Widows episodes, previously only available separately: The Black Widows are an infamous, all-female mercenary unit. Aboard their heavily-armed ship Medusa, they embark on secretive missions throughout the crumbling Confederacy as it wages a terrible and bloody civil war. Each of the Widows is an elite operative, with skills and expertise that command a high price. Their very names spread fear and terror into the hearts of their foes. Episode 1 The lives of Syala and her twin sister Arana are changed forever on the day ...

An award-winning journalist reveals the dramatic true story of the CIA's Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11. America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead. The country scrambles to respond, but the Pentagon has no plan for...

Isaac Lestroud, admiral of the Exilium Space Fleet, has spent the last three years working with Ambassador Amelie Lestroud to build an alliance against the Rogue Matrices, AIs bent on converting every world into a paradise, regardless of whether anyone lives on it. As Isaac hunts the Rogue that destroyed one of their allies’ homeworlds, Amelie begins negotiations with a potential new ally that could tip the balance.

The notable German historian and monk Ekkehard of Aurach was also a crusader. He wrote a comprehensive world history text, but upon returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1101, he rewrote his portion on the First Crusade. "On the Opening of the First Crusade" is an excerpt from his larger work on the war, titled Hierosolymita. Modern scholars of history hold his contributions in high respect for his meticulous attention to detail and broad scope.

Before the First Crusade ignited in 1095, Christian Europe waged centuries of forgotten battles against Muslim expansion—the Proto-Crusades. From Charlemagne’s audacious 778 campaign in Spain to El Cid’s triumphant conquest of Valencia in 1094, these fragmented yet fervent efforts laid the groundwork for the crusading movement. In The Proto-Crusades: Christian Europe’s First Responses to Muslim Aggression, Orr unveils a gripping saga of kings, popes, and warriors who defied the tide of conquest in Iberia, Sicily, and the Byzantine East. Through vivid narratives and meticulous ...

Though Aaron Turner would be just as happy to oversee archaeological digs, there might still be a few people out to kill him. What his enemies don’t know is that Aaron really is the One God’s Chosen, called Bringer, known as Death, and he’s become righteously pissed off.

The story of the wars and conquests initiated by the first Crusade and its successors is itself so compelling that most accounts move quickly from describing the Pope's calls to arms to the battlefield. In this highly original and enjoyable new book, Christopher Tyerman focuses on something obvious but overlooked: the massive, all-encompassing, and hugely costly business of actually preparing a crusade.

My name is Argo Herrero. I'm ready to enlist, sign the contract to serve for 10 years under the ally ranks. Enlisting is the only way to free myself from the hands of the totalitarians, to fight for freedom itself. The allies assure me citizenship and a decent salary after 10 years of service. The Megachine are strong. Undefeated. Unrivaled. They have wiped out the ally drone force and are moving in for the final blow. First they took Europe, then Asia. With the help of the Chavistas, they conquered Latin America.

Spacers call the warp point Charon's Ferry. No star ship has ever entered it and returned since a vengeful Orion task force pursued a doomed Terran colonization fleet into it in 2206. Almost a century has passed. The fiery hatreds of a quarter-century of warfare between the Terran Federation and the Zheeerlikou'valkhannaieeee, the cat-like species humans called the "Orions", have eased at least a little.