Review: not a pleasant era
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
Wars fought in the middle East have raged for millennia but according to this book, those of the 1200s were especially harrowing:"In combat such as this, when you are face to face with your enemy and you can see his teeth, smell his fetid breath, note the veins in his eyes, time slows. Instants seem like hours."That 2-sentence description of battle 800 years ago pretty much defines the contrast with the impersonal way it is waged today with suicide bombers, drones, and high powered automatic weapons. And this tale is filled with much more graphic descriptions of the kinds of damage inflicted by sword, daggers, and spears.The hero is a Scot with a not so illustrious beginning in life. But somehow he manages to rise above every disadvantage and joins the most elite band of knights of his day to do battle with the forces of Islam.RECEIVED FREE COPY TO REVIEW