Historical Atlas of the Crusades
Adult/High School-Between the years 1095 and 1291, much of the attention of the rulers of Western Europe was focused on what they believed was their moral and religious duty-to bring the land that was the birthplace of Christianity back under Christian rule. To do this, they launched military campaigns that established a Christian stronghold in Palestine for 200 years. During that time, the European armies and their Muslim foes were locked in brutal combat. Mercy was seldom asked for and rarely given. Although this volume is primarily an atlas, Konstam uses many contemporary Western and Arab sources to provide a concise history of the six different crusades. For each one, he provides political and economic background to the events that led up to its execution, its objectives, a description of the personages involved, the military forces of the opponents, the campaigns and battles, and the final outcome. The book is lavishly illustrated with color illustrations on every page and more than 40 maps, many of which cover two pages. All of them are well drawn, easy to read, appropriately placed with the text, and detailed enough to provide relevant information, but not so busy that readers get bogged down in minutiae. This atlas is perfect for world-history courses.Robert Burnham, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VACopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.