The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East 1100-1187

A History of the Crusades II

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The second volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades 
 
'There was magic about. Saladin himself was troubled by terrible dreams...' 
 
Steven Runciman's unrivalled history of the Crusades is a classic of learning and vivid, compelling storytelling, which brilliantly brings to life the personalities, battles, massacres, triumphs and follies of these epochal events. In this second volume of his trilogy Runciman tells the story of the foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the disastrous, bloody Second Crusade and the inexorable rise of the crusaders' nemesis, Saladin. 
 
'The pre-eminent historian of the Byzantine Empire and of the Crusades ... a surefooted guide who could render the past visible and familiar' Daily Telegraph 
 
'He tells his story plain ... always pleasurable to read' Gore Vidal

Sir Steven Runciman (1903-2000) was one of the greatest British historians. He drastically recast how we think about both the Crusades and the history of Byzantium. His major works include The Sicilian Vespers (1958), The Great Church in Captivity (1968), Byzantine Style and Civilization (1975) and Mistra (1980).

'The whole tale is one of faith and folly, courage and greed, hope and delusion' 
 
The triumph of the First Crusade transformed the eastern Mediterranean, creating a series of European-ruled states along the coast and in Armenia. But the region's Muslim rulers were far from defeated and the major cities of inland Syria, Egypt and elsewhere now rallied to expel the colonisers. How could the crusaders stabilize their rule and continue to attract the thousands of new recruits needed to replace their terrible losses, both from battle and disease? 
 
A triumph of prose-writing, argument and research, Steven Runciman's A History of the Crusades is an unimprovable account of events which changed the world and which still resonate today. In this second volume he tells the story of the catastrophic Second Crusade and the inexorable rise of the crusaders' nemesis, Saladin.

The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades

A History of the Crusades III

The third volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades 
 
'The whole tale is one of faith and folly, courage and greed, hope and disillusion' 
 
Steven Runciman's triumphant three-volume A History of the Crusades remains an unsurpassed account of the events that changed the world and continue to resonate today. This final volume of the trilogy begins with the glamorous Third Crusade and ends with the ruinous collapse of the crusader states and the degeneration of their ideals, which reached its nadir in the tragic destruction of Byzantium. 
 
'When historical events are written about with this sort of command, they take on not only the universality of a fairy tale but also a certain moral weight. Runciman writes both seductively and instructively about the dignity and beauty of different religious beliefs and about the difficulties of their co-existence' Independent

'The whole tale is one of faith and folly, courage and greed, hope and delusion' 
 
In 1187 the catastrophic Battle of Hattin resulted in Saladin's destruction of the crusaders' main army. In an atmosphere of total crisis, the three principal leaders of Europe, Philip Augustus, Richard the Lionheart and Frederick Barbarossa decided that they should personally lead armies to relieve the beleaguered survivors. 
 
A triumph of prose-writing, argument and research, Steven Runciman's A History of the Crusades is an unimprovable account of events which changed the world and which still resonate today. In this final volume he starts with the glamorous Third Crusade and then tells the later story as the crusader states collapsed - a less well-known but fascinating period where crusaders found themselves fighting everywhere from Egyptian swamps to the Great Hungarian Plain and the apparent clarity of the original urge to liberate Jerusalem seemed a distant dream.

Steven Runciman

The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

''The whole tale is one of faith and folly, courage and greed, hope and delusion.' 
 
The Christian and Muslim empires of the Middle East had fought each other for centuries, two ancient, powerful civilizations, in some ways very familiar to one another. In 1095 something extraordinary happened. The Pope issued an appeal to the leaders of western Europe to recover the Christian Holy Places from Islamic rule. The response to his appeal was overwhelming as, in scenes of hysteria, many thousands of men volunteered to leave their old lives behind and march to rescue Jerusalem. Now, across western Europe, everyone from monarchs to beggars were planning to travel many hundreds of dangerous miles in search of salvation, riches or both. 
 
A triumph of prose-writing, argument and research, Steven Runciman's A History of the Crusades is an unimprovable account of events which changed the world and which still resonate today. In this first volume he tells the story of the First Crusade - from its unlikely beginnings to the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem and the carving out of aggressive new western European states on the edge of the eastern Mediterranean.

Steven Runciman

Books by Steven Runciman

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