I have to lavish some praise on this book. I found it to be both extremely approachable for someone wanting to learn about the crusades (even if you have no prior knowledge like myself), but also entertaining and quite educational as well. Over the course of the book, a crusade intending to retake Jerusalem from those dogs in the Middle East (sarcasm intended) gets pushed towards Constantinople (the wealthiest Christian city in existence at the time) and the city's Greek rulers through a series of events. Behind the scenes there is quite a bit of royal intrigue with several different groups of people trying to seize control of the Byzantine empire. When this is combined with the inevitable siege warfare, I felt like I was reading a fantasy novel except everything actually happened. It was also commendable that author describes all of the misdeeds of the "holy warriors" in a neutral manner which shows both what they hoped to achieve and the very bad things they did in pursuit of that goal. I really appreciated the author's ability to seamlessly describe any cultural or social norms around this period. These parts were not only some of the most interesting, but also made me feel like I was learning more than a series of events in history. If you're looking for a book about the crusades or even just medieval times that is approachable and not a huge undertaking, then you should definitely give this one a look.
How does a crusade against Islam end up sidetracked into a completely different country? The Fourth Crusade was dominated by a nobility that was trying to build up its credibility by military adventuring, an avaracious collective of merchants, traders and bankers to whom they were indebted, a gullible public--though about 2/3rds of the crusaders quit when they discovered they were going to be fighting Christians instead of the Islamic conquerors of the Holy Land. Thus the Fourth Crusade to free the Jerusalem ended up besieging the walls of Constantinople in April of 1204 A. D. and the destruction and looting of many of the treasures of the Eastern Roman Empire. And in the long run it would make it nearly impossible for the Catholic Church to drum up support for other crusades and lead to the subsequent decline in the fervor to free the holy land. This is a case study of how cynical politics, bad debt and misguided religious beliefs can derail an entire continent. Good thing such things are safely in the past and can't happen again. . .
OK, this is how a history book should be written. A thorough, well-researched, and detailed account, but also written colloquially enough that it flows and is enjoyable to read. Loads of endnotes, but there's no need to continually flip back to them to fill in the story - the author does all that. It helps that he has a compelling story to talk about -- the Fourth Crusade was full of, shall we say, blunders, and the author does a great job of relating each and how one led to the next and so forth. It leaves you with a good understanding of what happened and why. This is the sort of book that makes you want to read more history, not less.
—Ann
This book provides great insight on the fourth crusade, as well as the crusades in general, knighthood, the Middle Ages,and the papacy's impact on politics and warfare. What makes the fourth crusade unique is that the Roman Catholic crusader army, directed by the pope to attack the muslins and "retake" the Holy Land, actually end up attacking the Byzantine Catholic city of Constantinople. I was amazed by the ruthlessness of some leaders, the hardship of the crusaders and overall impact on religion and politics.
—SteveR
As others have written, this seems to be written like a compelling textbook without the dry digressions. Before reading this my clearest vision of a Crusader's life and this time was vague and cliched (I am not a history buff), and I had no grasp on how personalities were formed and flavored in light of the day-to-day realities and larger cultural dimensions that were at play during this general period of European/Islamic history. No, I feel, I have a good staring point, and a budding fascination for siege technologies/medieval ingenuity, the involutions of theological/political hypocrisies within adolescent Christianity, and glimmering of how and why Islamic/Christian got off to a rough start.
—Matt
