The Fourth Crusade And The Sack Of Constantinople [Import] [Hardcover]

Jonathan Phillips (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Viking Penguin; First Edition edition (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0224069861
• ISBN-13: 978-0224069861
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,287,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crusaders behaving badly, November 16, 2004

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (Hardcover)

This is a well-written book that gives some background to the crusading movement in medieval Europe, but its primary focus is on the ill-starred Fourth Crusade. This was a crusade not led by monarchs, but rather like the First Crusade, an undertaking of many nobles of good family. The addition of the Venetian seamen with their needed ships, and an ill-advised agreement about men and money led this holy endeavor to attack, not the occupiers of Jerusalem, but rather the also Christian rulers of the Byzantine Empire. It's a somewhat convoluted tale, but the author tells it extremely well, and at no time does the reader feel that he is lost. This book gives some insight into the schism that exists still today between the Orthodox and Roman churches, and is excellent reading for anyone interested in this fractious history.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating look at Medieval Europe, January 10, 2005

By 

Darin A. Leviloff "amateur historian" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (Hardcover)

I am not a medievalist in any way, shape, or form. But I decided to give this book a chance and learn about a period of time and event I knew so little about. What I found was an epic story of dramatic purportions. The characters and their motivations seem right out of a fictional drama: The elderly and manipulative Doge of Venice, the brash and ambitious Byzantine pretender, the hypocritical holy men, and the permissive Pope. The author not only provides the historical record, but provides real insight into the thinking of a time so different, and yet so similar, to our own. Replete with modern analogies and references, beyond a mere history book, its a real page-turner.

47 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Problems, Problems and More Problems, January 3, 2006

By 

David E. Blair (Columbia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (Paperback)

This book is a quick and fun read. The first problem to be faced is that Donald Queller in 1978 wrote a book that covers almost exactly the same ground except for Phillips last two chapters on the Latin Empire after the Crusade. In 1978 when first published, Queller's thesis regarding the "accidental" nature of the 4th Crusade's final destination was sensational. His conclusions were opposed to Runciman, Norwich and others. Queller offered a persuasive revisionist history of the 4th Crusade. The second problem is that in 1997, Queller and Thomas Madden, updated and reissued the 1978 work under the title, "The 4th Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople," and it a far superior book to this one.

The third problem is that, to the best of my knowledge, there is not an original thought in Phillip's book. So, where do the two stars come from? One of the stars is issued for a generally readable and accurate assessment of the 4th Crusade that is derivative from other secondary sources. The second star is earned for the extensive translated quotes from the actual crusaders, Greeks, and other contemporaries involved with or around this incident. This helps illuminate the thinking of those involved within their own cultures and time. From there it is downhill. The last two chapters on the end of the Crusade and the Latin Empire are weak and weaker. The book occasionally delves off into tenuously related sidetracks. No author should use the same quotes more than once in a book. Phillips manages to do this on at least two occasions. There are other indications of sloppy editorial work, but I will not enumerate them. Phillips uses 21st Century analogies gratuitously and unenlighteningly. Penguin published the paperback on lousy paper, with weak print density, and almost no white space.

I suggest you buy Qeuller and Madden's book on this topic. However, if you prefer, you may buy this inferior mirror image of their book. I wish I could be kinder to this book. It is far better that you read this book rather than nothing at all as this is important material seldom approached. At least, we can be thankful that Phillips did not rewrite Runciman and Norwich on the topic. Then his book would not have been only generally derivative but historically inaccurate as well.