“World of the Crusades” by Christopher Tyerman [Book Review]

This book is a racier, sexier rebirth of “God’s War” by Christopher Tyerman! “The World of the Crusades” by the same author repackages a masterpiece in the only way it can be improved upon: load it with images, charts, graphs, and beautiful artwork.

This resplendent new offering by historian Christopher Tyerman is a must have if you’ve read “God’s War” cover to cover (over 1,000 pages) like I have! It’s like the Ken Burns companion to the Civil War, or the Illustrated Lincoln companion to Carl Sandburg, or Virginius Dabney’s pictorial companion to “Virginia.”

STAR RATINGS:

“WORLD OF THE CRUSADES” BOOK STATS:

• Published 2019
• 517 total pages
• 468 pages of text
• 13 chapters
• 39 “Crusades in Detail” insets
• 161 illustrations
• 20 maps and figures
• 1 Chronology section
• 1 List of Rulers
• 1 Glossary section
• 1 Notes section
• 1 Bibliography section
• 1 Index section
• Hardcover only

“WORLD OF THE CRUSADES” BOOK REVIEW:

Author Christopher Tyerman ‘brought the heat’ (so to speak) with his 2008 publication “God’s War.” It is a massive 1,000-plus page book that unlocks virtually every aspect of the Crusades that anyone would ever want to know. “God’s War” was the definitive guide! Its only drawback, now that I’ve seen “The World of the Crusades,” is that it was 99% text.

So now we have a reason to live again, “The World of the Crusades” is an illustrated guide to the Crusades provided by the grand master himself. Speaking of text, the only reason my rating got a 4.9 was because of the slightly small font used.

“The World of the Crusades” is simply a stunning offering for anyone interested in the Crusading period which lasted over 400 years in regions ranging from the Holy Land to Spain, Italy, and even the Baltics.

The book traverses all FIVE crusades, however does not list them as such in his table of contents. This is an incongruity I cannot explain. He covers all of the ‘material’ per se but seems to repackage that information under different chapter titles. Strange.

What is extraordinary about “The World of the Crusades” is that it very much speaks to the motivations of those who organized and financed them. Tyerman deftly brings you into the realm of the medieval mind in understanding the predilections of those pro-Christian problem-solvers.

Not to say that this book is one sided. Not at all. Tyerman aligns both western and eastern thought in discovering not only what the motivations, problems, and politics were of the sides who initiated the Crusades, but also the cultures, socio-economics, and reactions of those who fought against the Crusaders.

I can definitely see a trend in publishing towards the high-gloss, inforaphic-style which I have to say has been sorely needed! Books like “Remarkable Manuscripts” and “The Family Medici” have paved the way for books in the vein of Tyerman’s latest offering which have boosted the viability for new book markets to be opened up to a new generation of readers.

Let me tell you that this book is not just beautiful, it is founded upon the most rigorous and up-to-date scholarship. You are not just getting window dressing, you are getting a window seat to the Crusades as if you were witnessing them first-hand. Such is the mastery of Tyerman’s writing, you never ‘Tyer’ of it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Tyerman, Christopher. 2019. The World of the Crusades: An Illustrated History. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• ISBN-13: 978-0300217391
• Amazon Link.