by Amin Maalouf (Author)
Front Jacket
The author has combed the works of contemporary Arab chronicles of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants. He retells their story and offers insights into the historical forces that shape Arab and Islamic consciousness today.
Back Jacket
European and Arab versions of the Crusaders have little common. What the West remembers as an epic effort to reconquer the Holy Land is portrayed here as a brutal, destructive, unprovoked invasion by barbarian hordes. When, under Saladian, a powerful Muslin army-inspired by prophets and poets-defeated the Crusaders, it was greatest victory ever won by a non-European society against the West.
Author Biography
AMIN MAALOUF was director of the weekly international edition of the leading Beirut daily an-Nahar, and was also editor-on-chief of Jeune Afrique.