Customer Reviews

Richard The Lionheart: The Mighty Crusader

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This is the first book of Miller I have read and I was very impressed by the clarity of the text and the factual analysis. The author gives a brief but very useful introduction to the history of the previous two crusades (before Richard I set foot on the Holy Land) and then goes to the adventourous campaign of the English king, covering the lightning conquest Cyprus, the conclusion of the siege of Acre in just four weeks, the march toward Jaffa, the battle of Arsuf and of course the two failed attempts to conquer Jerusalem. The book contains also chapters on the the logistics behind Richard's moves, the sea war and the lessons Richard learned studying Vegetius' "De Re Militaris". The text is not condensed and very easy to read, featuring only 30 lines per page and the book contains some 15 black and white photographs (two of them maps)in a special section.

I would like to recommend this book, to anyone with an interest in the Crusades, Richard I, or combat leadership in general.

I found that the focus on Richard's militay exploits to be excellent, and leaves the extraneous accusations of his activities for a reader to find else where if they're so inclined.

I noted one date in the book that lead me to some issue and that was the reference after the battle of Hattin, the movement to and fall of Jerusalem on July 4th, 1187. If memory serves me, the battle was on July 4th, and the Holy city fell months later.

Still all in all a great book, and a shining example for combat leaders to never ask their charges to do anything more than they would do themselves.

In this short book, we have an excellent study of military career of Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade. The entire book is basically geared toward that campaign where Richard squared off with Saladin. It pretty clear that Richard the Lionheart, may have been bad King of England but he proves to be a very able commander in battles and campaign. His ability to see the long term stratgic problems set him apart from many of his fellow European commanders. The author studied not only Richard's military efforts but his diplomatic effots as well. It bit ironic that Richard probably got along personally with his enemies better then he did with his allies, many who turned against him during the campaign and after.

The book is short (only 215 pages), well written and nicely researched. The author wasn't too judgmental on Richard, choosing to look at him from the historical contemporary point of view instead of the more present politically correct perception which many modern historians falls into that trap. The book proves to be very readable because its not cluttered with overwhelming amount of information. There seem to be enough in the book to present the author's case on Richard very nicely.

The book come recommended to anyone who got a close interest in the Crusades and the life of King Richard I, the Lionheart of England.

Overall, a pretty interesting book that wasted no pages in bringing the reader right into the Third Crusade.

First off, this book is not a biography in the normal sense. It covers the military campaigns of King Richard and includes little of the politics and quarrels of his life. If you want a biography of the great king then I would recommend John Gillingham's excellent Richard I. That said, this book is an excellent look at what few qualified people try to cover: His military accomplishments. Looking at his life from a military perspective makes clear how this man succeeded so well in what he did. For a man who spent most of his life at war this is a necessary perspective. It is high time that his career was looked at by a military historian.

I've wanted to learn more about Richard the Lionheart for a while now, and this is the first biography of his I've read. I was concerned that it might be over my head because some of the reviews talk about how it deals pretty heavily with the military side of things. I read it anyway, and I LOVED it. It was so easy to read and understand. I didn't think it was too heavy on military descriptions. I did cover it, yes, but it was not boring in any way at all. I am so glad I read it. It covered Richard's exciting personality and it did talk about different battles and altercations - but you can't talk about Richard I without talking about that, can you? It was interesting to follow the map right down the coast as he covered the towns and conflicts. I thought it was very interesting and well written. Again, I am so glad I read it - and I will be reading more about Richard I!

An extremely well done book that is a must for Richard I research. Miller has timelined the events of the Third Crusade along with important information that impacted Richard's life during that time. Informative - easy to read - concise.

This book is perhaps the most concise, readable book on Richard that I've come across. I would refrain from calling it a full biography, since the main focus of the book is purely on Richard's campaign in the Holy Land (and admittedly so), however, Miller uses many opportunities to dissect the tendencies and characteristics of Richard's personality.

It's clear from the writing that the author served as a soldier in a previous life, and hence this book stands apart from others like it because of its heavy focus on the logistical and tactical aspects of the Third Crusade, even going as far as to specify (estimating, of course) the weight of soldier's rations, supply trains, etc. The tables and appendices are particularly valuable.

In short, this is an incredibly readable book on war written from a soldier's perspective, thus making it a fascinating and quick read without ever falling into the familiar sludge where rambling historians and academics seem to get trapped. I look forward to reading other military works by David Miller.

An interesting and informative read, examining Richard from a personal and politico-military perspective but also looking at the history and logistics of the Third Crusade. My only complaint is the rather naive view of the 'Saracen' army that is presented here.