The Crusades: Classic Histories Series

In 1095 Pope Urban II granted absolution to anyone who would fight to reclaim the Holy Land. With God at their backs, the first Christian crusaders embarked on an unprecedented religious war. While addressing the contribution of flamboyant characters like Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, Malcolm Billings also looks at the experiences of the peasants, knights and fighting monks who took the cross for Christendom and the Holy Warriors of Islam who, after battle on battle, emerged victorious. He analyses the ebb and flow of crusade and counter-crusade and details the shifting structures of government in the Levant, which became the perennial battleground of East and West.

MALCOLM BILLINGS has been closely associated with history and archaeology throughout his career. He has written and produced many documentaries on history and archaeology for BBC Radio and has published several books including The English: The Making of A Nation from 430-1700 and London: A Companion to its History and Archaeology. He reports frequently from the Middle East and knows all too well the connection between the Crusades of the Middle Ages and their interpretation today by extremist Muslims.