The Concise History of the Crusades

Madden’s clear text invites readers at all levels of knowledge into this commentary on how the crusades shaped our modern world. [He] convincingly shows how the crusades prove useful in understanding the political, cultural, and religious wars waged in today’s society. True to the book’s title, Madden manages to deftly discuss his research while maintaining a clear, approachable style that makes this text accessible to all levels of readers. . . . His ability to set the scene breathes life into the history. . . . The extent of Thomas Madden’s research is evident, and his ability to describe history in an interesting and clear manner will appeal to all readers who enjoy reading about the past, especially where it is examined within a modern context.

In crystal-clear and economical prose, Madden does a superb job of exposition. As an introduction to the vast literature of the crusades, this is a jewel of a book. It has all one needs to understand the epic nature of the various mobilizations and invasions, who the important players were and how they operated, and why what was for centuries romanticized as chivalrous has today become odious.

Readers will be pleased that Thomas Madden has hit just the right note in his sweeping but concise account of the crusades. While he follows the development of crusading down to the period of the Protestant Reformation, and offers, in an afterword, speculations about the modern impact of the medieval crusade, he never fails to interest and inform. His prose is lucid. And to give the graphic point, he offers the reader fourteen clearly produced maps depicting the Mediterranean world about A.D. 1000, the routes of the main crusades, and the crusade plan of Maximilian I in 1518. The usefulness of these is reinforced by an index, a glossary, mainly of Islamic terms, a list of translated sources, and a select bibliography.

This is a wonderful piece of work that will greatly add to the sum of crusade historiography. . . . It is brilliantly executed. . . . Madden’s ability as a writer of gripping narrative shines through. This is a work that students will love, largely because it does not read like a textbook.

I love this book. It is clearly and artfully written, user-friendly, and well-organized, with excellent maps and an up-to-date suggested readings and sources in translation section.

A gripping narrative approach of the medieval social, economic, religious, and intellectual environments that gave birth to the Crusades and nurtured them for centuries.

It is clear handling of a complex subject that lets the facts speak for themselves. The book, moreover, lives up to its title. It is concise, but not overly simplified. It would serve as a fine text for undergraduate history students.

A brilliant text and handbook for students, teachers, and all readers taking interest in the history of the Crusades.

Much praise is due to the author for giving us such a clear, concise picture of an ever-changing area of scholarship.

Readers will owe Thomas Madden warm thanks for so clear an introductory account of so complex a phenomenon as a crusade.

This enjoyable book is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the Crusades.

Lucid, interesting, and lively. It certainly deserves to be listed in the bibliography for all undergraduate and school courses on the Crusades.

Madden’s small, accessible book is comprehensive, judicious, and fair. It should be required reading for anyone presuming to discuss crusading, crusaders, and the Crusades.

Thomas Madden brings fresh understanding to these blemished, but at heart noble, efforts to defend the core of medieval European culture.

Madden’s books are the best.

Exactly the right amount of information in just enough detail to hold the students’ attention without overwhelming them.

Professor Madden has written a strong narrative of the crusades, focusing on the crusades to the East and on the major (or numbered) crusades.

Madden writes that the term and concept of the Crusades had been protean and exploited from the inception of the modern era. . . .For him, the historical understanding and popular perception of these campaigns have led to their condemnation. Yet he still defends them as an act of piety (i.e., bravery coupled with faith) and rejects the dominant perception that they are in any way responsible
for modern tensions between the Middle East and the West.

It is well written and well organized...[and is] designed primarily as a textbook. . . .This is a good book. It is very clear and also both interesting and enjoyable to read.