“God’s War” by Christopher Tyerman [Book Review]

“God’s War” by Christopher Tyerman knocks all other Crusade books off of the shelf! It’s 922 pages of amazing page-turns; I mean when’s the last time you read a 900 page book without some sort of latent fear of actually trying to finish it? Tyerman’s “God’s War” is both macroscopic as well as microscopic in that the author leaves no explanation unturned, no location unraided, and no historical figure unmasked.

STAR RATINGS:

GOD’S WAR BOOK STATS:

• Published 2008
• 1024 total pages
• 922 pages of text
• 26 chapters
• List of 31 illustrations
• One 8-page color picture insets
• 1 gigantic Notes section
• 1 Selected Further Reading section
• 1 Select List of Rulers section
• 1 Index section
• Hardcover available

MIND BLOWN! COOL THINGS I LEARNED:

• There were 5 major crusades, and a few minor ones
• Economics played a major role in the inspiration to continue crusading
• The Kingdom of Jerusalem was as much a political construct as it was a religious icon

GOD’S WAR BOOK REVIEW:

“God’s War” by Christopher Tyerman encompasses the 5 major crusades of the 11th through the 15th century and even throws in a few extra crusades that were heretofore uncorrelated. So much of medieval European history is tied to the crusades, much more than I had realized; I never imagined the depth and breath of just how impactful these crusades were on the rulers of Europe at the time. So deeply entrenched are these ideals that we still feel their presence and magnetism today, from religious tenets to concepts of masculinity and chivalry. “God’s War” explores all of these in peerless detail.

The book itself is organized according to crusade. As a novice crusade reader, I really had no idea that there were actually five major crusades and of those five each had a unique personality and subtly different religious slant driving them. My prior knowledge of crusades came from a few smaller works I’d read specifically on the subject, but mostly me reading about the Angevin and Plantagenet rulers of England where the topic of crusading played a minor role against total the makeup of a dynasty.

Tyerman’s writing style is fairly formal so a high degree of reading comprehension is necessary. I found it very refreshing if I’m honest! To try and comprehend the complexity of networks that existed in medieval times across varying cultures and political scapes almost boggles the mind in the sense that armies in the hundreds of thousands were marshaled with only parchment and preaching. The author transcends these times and intricacies and has created a masterpiece wherein all the details are logically, socially, politically, economically, and spiritually explained. Not an easy task, which also explains why this book is just over 1,000 pages.

Although lengthy at times, each part is deftly organized into an introductory chapter (or section) explaining the rationale behind each crusade, the preparation that went into it, the actual crusade, and finally the impact that it had on both Europe as well as the area in which the crusade took place. “God’s War” explains not just the crusades but also is a backdoor into the machinations of the royalty of Europe – what they were thinking and how they went about making decisions. It’s also heavily about finance and the hidden economic benefits and liabilities that came with crusading. People made and lost fortunes, and I mean massive amounts! There was a huge transfer of wealth throughout Europe during the period of the late 11th and early 15th century precisely because of the crusades.

The only shortcoming I am aware of was that the author seemed to present a rather one-sided view of crusading in the Baltic region. From Jerusalem to the siege of Acre, the author dove deeply into the politics and perspectives of both combatants. That was missing in the section on the Baltic crusades. Having studied a bit of it myself, and even written about it, the “pagan” point of view, that is to say that of the various tribes being pillaged, was sorely lacking except to explain away their ultimate defeat. Of course, the Lithuanians were never defeated.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in medieval times, European history or genealogy, especially if you have royal ancestors tucked away in your family tree. The reality of the crusades as presented in “God’s War” is much more fascinating than you can imagine – a pecuniary paradise for some, a chance for martyrdom for most – the almost grandiose writing style of Tyerman enlightens you with nuggets of generalized comments just when you need it in the face of incredible amounts of penetrating detail. It was a distinct pleasure to read this book.

Christopher Tyerman has also released a follow-up companion to this book called “The World of the Crusades” which is a must read as well!

GOD’S WAR BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Tyerman, Christopher. 2008. “God’s War: A New History of the Crusades.” Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press.
• ISBN-13: 978-0674030701
• Amazon Link