About this title: Maalouf's account of the Crusades relies on Arabic testimonies of the event--some contemporary chronicles, others historical eyewitnesses to the invasion--effectively giving Western readers the other side of the Crusades story.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Schocken
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780805208986ISBN:0805208984
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. read more
Edition: 1st Paperback
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Schocken Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780805208986ISBN:0805208984
Description: Very Good. 5x8. 296 page softcover, w/map illustrations at end. Unmarked, tight and clean. read more
Description: Acceptable. 1985-Paperback----Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: New. 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... read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Schocken Books, NY
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780805208986ISBN:0805208984
Description: Near Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 293 pp, 2 maps, chronology, glossary, note on pronounciation, translated by Jon Rothschild, pristine condition. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Saqi Books
Date Published: 1985
ISBN-13:9780863560231ISBN:0863560237
Description: Very Good. 0863560237. This book is in very good condition; no remainder marks. Appears to have been gently used. Inside pages are clean.; Saqi Essentials; 0.7 x 8.2 x 5.3 Inches; 293 pages. read more
"Onetime Karl Marx said "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second ad farce." After reading Amin Maalouf's The Crusade through Arabic Eyes, I think Marx had got the previous note based on an analytical reading for the Arabic and Muslims history. I can read the history of modern Arab through this book. The same conflict which is religious in the first repeats itself again between a western colonial religious movement and the Palestinian people who have all the historical, anthropogenic and legislative rights in the land of Palestine. The same anti-humanity politics that used by the Crusades since thousand years is now used by the fascist politicians in Israel. The only result I got after reading that book, is that result mentioned by Marx before. The history should repeat itself and the rights will return to their real owner of Palestine."
"A very interesting book. The writing itself is nothing special, a bit dry and academic. The book has been translated from the French, so that could be the reason. But the subject matter is fascinating.
As Europeans, we are used to hearing about the Crusades from a Shrub-like good-guys-vs-bad-guys point of view, where the European invaders were the "good guys". This book presents the same subject, but the good guys are the defenders of their own territory and heritage. The narrative is enhanced by quotes from historians of the times.
For me, it would have been a good idea to keep a list of the names of the rulers and there relationships. I spent a lot of time paging back to be sure I had the right people together."
"I came to this book after reading several of Maalouf's fiction works. Even though it is a history book, it is very readable, and if it weren't for all the names, I would have thought I was reading a story. He draws the main figures of the Crusades as real people, not just objects of scholarly interest. I cried when Saladin died. Being an Arab myself, it was hard to shake the feeling of history repeating itself, but obviously the truth is more complex than that. What made the book important for me is the sense that these conflicts, the struggle for unity within the ummah, with "foreigners" ready to jump through the smallest chink in the armor, and with our own leaders and their various quirks and weaknesses -- none of these are anything new. The modern Middle East is just one chapter of a long history. That is much more realistic and reassuring story than the more simplistic version of history we inherit as Arab children -- that we were one long-lived, glorious empire until last century when everything came crashing down, all due of course to the fault of the evil West. Sorry folks, it's time to grow up.
This book is very much a story of leaders and great people. The masses are there, when they're slaughtered or fleeing their homeland or, sometimes, valiantly resisting a siege. But you do not get much of a sense of how the average person lived. I would have liked to know more about normal people and their normal lives, but that would have made this book longer and probably more like a normal history book. There's a trade-off Maalouf made, for the sake of an easily digestible story. In any case, I can probably find what I'm looking for elsewhere."
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