Customer Reviews

Saladin

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This is a scholarly book, which I found rewarding for its lucidity and evenness in tone. The author's thesis is that Saladin's greatest achievement took place before 1185-- before Jerusalem and the Third Crusade. "It was Saladin's restoration of Sunni Islam into Fatimid Shiite Egypt that proved to be his greatest legacy," he states in the Prologue.

In the first ten chapters of the book, we learn about Saladin's political rise, his consolidation of power in Egypt with the support of the inestimable al Qadil al Fadil, and the solid group of advisers and military men that Saladin relied on. The effect of this focus on the men around Saladin-- the various roles they played, religious, military, and administrative--is that it gives a three-dimensional quality to the man himself.

The remaining five chapters of the book deal with Saladin's victory at Hattin and the ensuing Third Crusade, and ending with Saladin's death in Damascus. In the final chapter the author gives an insightful assessment of Saladin, bringing the book full circle to the opening Prologue.

The author has focused his lense on Saladin from a different angle, and from this angle I have learned to appreciate Saladin's achievement off the battle fields and in the realm of religion, namely, Sunni ascendancy.