The crusades, [Hardcover]

Harold Lamb (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Garden City Pub. Co (1934)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00086R83I
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of the Crusades for everyone, June 30, 2004

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The crusades ; iron men and saints

I am writing for both volumes of the Crusades, Iron Men and Saints and for Flames of Islam. Both books proves to be well written and Lamb's storytelling does make both volumes read a lot like historical fiction. However, the book appears to be well researched if not slightly outdated by our standards today but still acceptable overall. (Both books been around for a long time.)

Because of the easy to read format as written by Harold Lamb, these two books could be read by almost anyone who have any interest on the subject. Its a great introduction material and easy to digest information would be welcome by many. Not only that, it tells a great story in an energic and entertaining way.

I was told and agreed that these two books compared favorably with Thomas Costain's four books series on English Plantagenat Kings. If you enjoyed Costain's works, you will definitely enjoyed Harold Lamb. They both writes in that style that make history into a story. Lamb would put into some fictional liners to advanced the story and takes legends into facts. But its a great way to start into the history of the Crusades and even if some of the modern works (you might read later on) might straighten out the details into proper perception, these two books helps in providing the background material which was so easily read and understood.

Excellent starter books, thick but very readable!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History told like historical fiction, May 17, 2004

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The crusades ; iron men and saints

This was the first of two volumes Lamb wrote on the Crusades. it dealt only with the First Crusade. The second was "The Crusades: Flame of Islam," and it treated with the later Crusades.

Lamb wrote military history engagingly, almost like it was historical fiction. Most of his other historical works were biographies of great generals -- from Hannibal to Alexander to Genghis Khan. As a youth, I read as many of his books as I could find until I hit upon his biography of Alexander the Great. I was sorely disappointed. It was unabashedly historical fiction. This caused me to doubt the historicity of his other works until I read Steven Runciman's three volume work on the Crusades.

Comparing Runciman to Lamb reassured me of "Iron Men's" basic historical merit. It is fairly accurate and extremely well told. Lamb starts with the turn of the millenium and moves to the Pope's preaching a crusade. He describes the crusade of Peter the Hermit, and then gives an account of the First Crusade.

How on earth these naive, strategically clueless men-at-arms were able to wrest Jerusalem from Islamic control is beyond me. They had only three things going for them -- Religious zeal, superb fighting ability, and excellent armor.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid history of the first Crusade, April 3, 2004

By 

Julius Vernon "J Vernon" (Manassas, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The crusades ; iron men and saints

This book is a bit older and hence some of the research is out dated, but Harold Lamb does a terrific job of not giving a biased perspective (something that is not always done when dealing with this subject). In addition, some of the details of the book are scarcely found in other accounts. The book has a narrative flow which makes for an interesting read. In contrast to its title the book only deals with the first crusade but as such it is an invaluable resource on such.