Product Description

This book discusses a group of themes designed to highlight how Muslims reacted to the alien presence of the Crusaders in the heart of traditional Muslim territory. Ideological concerns are examined and the importance of the jihad is assessed in the context of the gradual recovery of the Holy Land and the expulsion of the Crusaders.

Two chapters are devoted to an analysis of warfare& mdash;arms, battles, sieges, fortifications& mdash;on the basis of written sources and extant works of art, and the neglected aspect of the navy is brought into prominence. One chapter deals with the complex issue of the interaction between Muslims and Crusaders in a social, economic and cultural setting. The epilogue traces in outline the profound impact of the Crusades on Muslim consciousness until the present day.

Hillenbrands introduces some of the wider aspects of the history of the Crusades from the Muslim side. Accordingly, as a deliberate policy, an attempt is made here to view the phenomenon of the Crusades entirely through the prism of medieval Muslim sources. This naturally involves bias, but such a bias is salutary given the cumulative impact of centuries of Eurocentric scholarship in this field and it should help to create a more balanced picture of this fascinating and momentous period of Christian/Muslim confrontation and interaction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #300247 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-01
• Released on: 2008-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

Review
This is ground-breaking work, and its value lies not only in the detailed reportage, but also in the way Carole Hillenbrand gives western historians a guide to source material, either unknown to them or available only in partial translation, and introduces her readers to the mindset of medieval Muslims, providing an entirely different angle from which to look at the crusading movement. By putting modern ideas into context the book will enable readers in both the western and Islamic worlds to understand better events which to some extent are shaping the present. -- Jonathan Riley-Smith The Crusades from a Western viewpoint have produced a very rich and abundant bibliography for more than a century. On the other hand, very few studies on the Muslim response to the Crusade have appeared. For the first time the subject is tackled here globally and an attempt is made to explain, through a deep analysis of the Arabic sources, the motives and aims of the Muslims ! This work - which shows very clearly the impact which the Crusades have had in Islamic territory up until our own time - is a remarkable contribution to the history of relations between east and west. -- Anne-Marie Edde Hillenbrand's admirable book, the first comprehensive attempt to pull together the relevant Muslim texts on these wars, lets the sources speak for themselves, and provides intriguing insights into the deeply rooted problems which face us today ! she has done a masterful job, providing us with a whole new way to examine the traditional western material on the Crusades. A magisterial and path-breaking study in its own right ! a veritable treasure trove of material heretofore unavailable to the non-Arabist ! The Crusades is a masterly and welcome contribution to the historiography of the Crusades. Hillenbrand has set an enviable standard of scholarship from which teachers and students of the Crusades, the medieval Middle East, and medieval Europe will long benefit. It is a major contribution !The book is profusely illustrated and the illustrations are on the whole well chosen. This is ground-breaking work, and its value lies not only in the detailed reportage, but also in the way Carole Hillenbrand gives western historians a guide to source material, either unknown to them or available only in partial translation, and introduces her readers to the mindset of medieval Muslims, providing an entirely different angle from which to look at the crusading movement. By putting modern ideas into context the book will enable readers in both the western and Islamic worlds to understand better events which to some extent are shaping the present. The Crusades from a Western viewpoint have produced a very rich and abundant bibliography for more than a century. On the other hand, very few studies on the Muslim response to the Crusade have appeared. For the first time the subject is tackled here globally and an attempt is made to explain, through a deep analysis of the Arabic sources, the motives and aims of the Muslims ! This work - which shows very clearly the impact which the Crusades have had in Islamic territory up until our own time - is a remarkable contribution to the history of relations between east and west. Hillenbrand's admirable book, the first comprehensive attempt to pull together the relevant Muslim texts on these wars, lets the sources speak for themselves, and provides intriguing insights into the deeply rooted problems which face us today ! she has done a masterful job, providing us with a whole new way to examine the traditional western material on the Crusades. A magisterial and path-breaking study in its own right ! a veritable treasure trove of material heretofore unavailable to the non-Arabist ! The Crusades is a masterly and welcome contribution to the historiography of the Crusades. Hillenbrand has set an enviable standard of scholarship from which teachers and students of the Crusades, the medieval Middle East, and medieval Europe will long benefit. It is a major contribution !The book is profusely illustrated and the illustrations are on the whole well chosen.

About the Author

Carole Hillenbrand is honorary profesorial fellow, professor emerita, University of Edinburgh. In 2005 she became the first non-Muslim scholar to be awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies, reflecting her "revolutionary approach to the largely one-sided subject of the Crusades." She is author of The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate; A Muslim Principality in Crusader Times; editor of The Sultan's Turret; and, with C. E. Bosworth, coeditor of Qajar Iran.

Customer Reviews

Hillenbrand's The Crsuades: Islamic Perspectives
This book is an excellent review of the most up-to-date knowledge we have about contemporary Islamic persepctives on the "Wars of the Cross." The author carefully sets our her purpose in writing this work, which includes both Muslim sources for the major figures and events, as well as Muslim perceptions of the Crusaders and how the Crusades have influenced Middle Eastern history. Anyone wishing to learn fully about this time period must read this work.

great but overpriced
Hillenbrand did a fantastic job writing this book. It is easily the most detailed, nuanced, and evenhanded treatment about the Crusades from the Islamic perspective available. The only drawback is that it is extensively illustrated, with images on nearly every page, and few of the images have any direct relationship to the text. Hillenbrand herself states that most of the illustrations were included simply to give readers a feel for the visual character of medieval Islam. This is a sensible goal, but surely could have been achieved with less. I suspect that it is because of the printing costs of so many unnecessary pictures that the cover price for the paperback is over $70 and the hardcover a whopping $250. The publishers should seriously consider issuing a second edition with 90% of the illustrations removed and a cover price around $25-35 for the paperback. Then this book could receive the wide readership it deserves.

The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives
This is the best-produced academic paperback I have ever seen. The book is wonderfully illustrated. The photographs are supplemented by hundreds of intriguing drawings in the wide margins. The text is spaciously presented and easy to read. I found zero typographical errors in more than six hundred pages of text, a delight in these days of hasty editing. Hillenbrand's writing is clear, straightforward, and balanced. The book presents a much-needed new perspective on the Crusades. Five stars.