Customer Reviews

The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a brilliant book by a leading historian of the crusades. It needs to be understood on its own terms: it's a detailed analysis of *why* so many Europeans set off on the 1st Crusade. Riley-Smith has produced a closely-argued analysis that places the crusade within the context of the world of eleventh-century Europe that created it. This isn't the place to go if you want accounts of the battles of the crusade, and it isn't a "light" read. But it's extremely valuable---I've assigned it several times to my classes.

Riley Smith focuses on the title of his book, that is what he wants to present and does. It is not a light read, but anyway it is very clear and dinamic; the author presents facts in an interesting and condensed way, and he does take time (we apreciate that!)to explain the sources he has used in his investigation.

Riley-Smith, widely acknowledged as an expert in Crusade studies, has presented here a book which is not a dry recitation of Crusade facts but instead an examination of motives behind the Crusade: WHY did the Crusading knights choose to heed Urban's call and head off into a strange land to fight? WHY did Urban issue that call in the first place? What were the kinds of hardships a Crusader might have faced?

This is an extremely well-written, well-researched book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the fields of medieval or Crusade studies.

But there is no way I would read this book if I didn't have to. It is not an easy read. It is a tedious slog. Having said that, it is relatively short +- 150 pages of actual content, so at least you will only be board out of your mind for a few hours. There is also a lot of good information in there, for those of us who have the time and inclination to get to it.

As a student of history, not focused on the period, I found this book a hard and annoying read. Riley-Smith focuses too much on proving his arguments through repetative evidence, and only through a close examination and arduous reading of the title from front to end does one gain a good understanding of what Riley-Smith wanted to convey. The art of story-telling does not live in this one...

I needed to read this book for a class, and of all the books I have read on the crusade this is by far the most boring.