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The Accursed Tower: The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades (2019)

by Roger Crowley

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1162237,063 (4.1)1
"The 1291 siege of Acre was the Alamo of the Christian Crusades -- the final bloody battle for the Holy Land. After a desperate six weeks, the beleaguered citadel surrendered to the Mamluks, bringing an end to Christendom's two-hundred year adventure in the Middle East. In The Accursed Tower, Roger Crowley delivers a lively narrative of the lead-up to the siege and a vivid, blow-by-blow account of the climactic battle. Drawing on extant Arabic sources as well as untranslated Latin documents, he argues that Acre is notable for technical advances in military planning and siege warfare, and extraordinary for its individual heroism and savage slaughter. A gripping depiction of the crusader era told through its dramatic last moments, The Accursed Tower offers an essential new view on a crucial turning point in world history." --Amazon.com.… (more)
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The Siege of Acre in 1291 marked the effective end of the European Crusades, in the Holy Land. It is a sad and pathetic end with the wealthy and powerful running away by ship. Two centuries of empire building come to naught. The truth is, other than this being the moment when the last helicopter takes off from the roof of the embassy, the war was lost long before. As such it's not terribly interesting other than as a colorful siege. Anything by Crowley is worth reading IMO (I've read them all) his descriptions of battle scenes and weaponry are lively. The city itself sounded like a sort of Libertarian dream/hell where anything goes, where people came to make their fortunes or whatever fantasy of the exotic east. ( )
1 vote Stbalbach | Nov 13, 2019 |
"In The Accursed Tower, Crowley tells the story Acre in vivid and visceral detail."
 
"Shifting back and forth between Muslim and Christian perspectives, this entertaining history serves as a satsifying introduction to the end of the Crusades."
added by bookfitz | editPublishers Weekly (Nov 18, 2019)
 
"A bracing work by a masterly historian whose great knowledge portrays the “dramatic symbolic significance” of this landmark event."
added by bookfitz | editKirkus Reviews (Oct 1, 2019)
 
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Epigraph
And it is worth noting that they say that Our Lord, when he travelled beside the Syrian sea, did not enter this city, but cursed one of its towers, which today is called Accursed by the inhabitants. But I believe rather that it took its name from another source. When our men laid seige to the city, this tower was the most strongly defended of all; whence they called it the Accursed Tower.
- Wilbrand van Oldenburg, visitor to Acre, 1211
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For Richard and Sophie
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In the spring of 1291, the largest army that Islam had ever assembled against the crusaders in the Holy Land was moving toward the city of Acre.
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"The 1291 siege of Acre was the Alamo of the Christian Crusades -- the final bloody battle for the Holy Land. After a desperate six weeks, the beleaguered citadel surrendered to the Mamluks, bringing an end to Christendom's two-hundred year adventure in the Middle East. In The Accursed Tower, Roger Crowley delivers a lively narrative of the lead-up to the siege and a vivid, blow-by-blow account of the climactic battle. Drawing on extant Arabic sources as well as untranslated Latin documents, he argues that Acre is notable for technical advances in military planning and siege warfare, and extraordinary for its individual heroism and savage slaughter. A gripping depiction of the crusader era told through its dramatic last moments, The Accursed Tower offers an essential new view on a crucial turning point in world history." --Amazon.com.

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