Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands

Dan Jones is a fox in the hen house of History. He has a method that pushes the boundaries of what we think we know as we approach his work. And we leave it scratching our head for more. Jones is not afraid to point the reader in another direction and is not afraid to imply that he may not know everything. This book truly dials back the curtain on the world of crusading and while at times it may seem playful to the reader we know that it is a bloody and serious subject that has more than a little bearing on our modern day views of the world around us. I could never pick a favorite of his. It seems he gets a tad more personal in this book and throws his honesty around all corners of it. Between Asbridge, Jones and Bauer it would be a show more bloody fight indeed. But in the end Jones has the stamina as a historian and easily clenches the TKO with Crusaders. show less

Rating: 4 out of 5

This book reminded me strongly of a food sampler. It had little bits and nuggets of a wide swath of historical events, but given the breadth of the topic, it was unable to go into detail on most of them, allowing you to just sample what took place. I frequently find this kind of narrative jarring as it skips from one event to the next (We ask historians to condense centuries of events into a few hundred pages). Jones, however, did a superb job in weaving a cohesive narrative (perhaps a bit too good, I had to keep going back and rechecking the dates) out of this motely of semi-related wars, theological movements, and spiritual-temporal power struggles.

This book is titled ‘Crusaders’ to reflect Jones’ desire to show more focus on the personalities that inspired and carried out the Crusades. An equally good alternative would perhaps be ‘Crusading’. While the book does paint vivid portraits of the characters involved, it, naturally, focuses much more on the organizing and waging of the Crusades.

When I thought about the Crusades, my mind immediately went into the wars for the Holy Land, the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Richard the Lionheart. Jones explains that Crusades encompassed so much more than that. The Reconquista and the Baltic wars against the pagans were also carried out with under the same name and philosophy, oftentimes sharing organizers and key players.

All in all, I feel like this book was an excellent introduction to and overview of Crusading. I learned enough so that I don’t feel like a total ignoramus on the subject, and I have an idea of specific areas that I’d like to read more about in the future. show less

Dissatisfying albeit wide ranging story of the Crusaders in their wider sense by including the reconquista of Spain and expansion of the Teutonic Knights and others into the pagan Baltic states, as well as the far better known crusades to the Levant. Although successful both in conveying the broad sweep of the crusades and specific events and personages, it felt like too much of a slog. I didn’t feel enjoyment, just a need to carry on and see it to its end.

So I apparently have yet to meet a book by Dan Jones that disappoints me. He has surprised and amazed me once again with his new book: a whole lot of information about a very hostile time broken down into easily understood and comprehendable material. I also liked the way he approached the Crusaders: rather than focusing on the group as a whole and what they were fighting for, he chose to focus on specific individuals from every side of the conflict. I highly recommend this book (and all of his others!).

I selected this book to fulfill the Read Harder category "a history about a period you know little about" since what I knew could probably have been summed up in a sentence or two. It was somewhat of a slow slog from beginning to end, to the point where I ultimately had to set daily page goals to make progress, but I do now feel considerably more knowledgeable about the subject matter. I made frequent use of the included maps, as well as Google for key players, geography and terminology. There were some pretty messed-up surprises: the Fourth Crusade was waged against fellow Christians; and some not-surprises: religiously-motivated acts have long been garbage, and Christianity has been demonstrably corrupt from the very beginning.

It’s a good solid book about the sordid and murderous exploits of murderous followers of the religion of love warring with followers of the religion of peace with occasional murderous pogroms against the chosen ones, with plenty of dehumanizing depredations and naked greed and theft to go around, all done in the name of Abrahamic faiths. It’s dismaying and depressing and maybe not quite what the tin says, but still engagingly written and readable given the subject matter. 3.4 stars.

Important historical events and movements require good writing to captivate the audience. Narrative style is as important as the facts. I found Dan Jones to be a good storyteller and the stories he tells appear to be based on rigorous research. I am sure at least one of his other audiobooks will accompany me on my walks next year.
Regarding The Crusaders specifically, the evil of a dogmatic belief system is clearly seen in the discourse.