book cover of The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by אמין מעלוף

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes

by אמין מעלוף

Blurb

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes is a French language historical essay by Lebanese author Amin Maalouf.
As the name suggests, the book is a narrative retelling of primary sources drawn from various Arab chronicles that seeks to provide an Arab perspective on the Crusades, and especially regarding the Crusaders – the Franks, as the Arabs called them – who are considered cruel, savage, ignorant and culturally backward.
From the first invasion in the eleventh century through till the general collapse of the Crusades in the thirteenth century, the book constructs a narrative that is the reverse of that common in the Western world, describing the main facts as bellicose and displaying situations of a quaint historic setting where Western Christians are viewed as "barbarians", unaware of the most elementary rules of honor, dignity and social ethics.

First Published

1983

Member Reviews Write your own review

endovelico

Endovelico

The Crusades as seen by the Arabs by Amin Maalouf offers us a fresh take on the crusades by centering the point of view in the Arab world during the crusading wars. Be at ease though, the book is not revisionist in the slightest nor does it try to romanticize the feats of any of the belligerents. The book is largely based on chronicles of the time and in doing so you, Amin manages to write a unique and valuable historical document book destilled to satisfy contemporary needs and questions regarding what went on during the time. The book indulges at times on rumours and popular stories of the time but always adverts the reader when doing so. Being that the book is filled with dates, battles, locations and names it ends up being more dense (even if more informative) than a usual Amin Historical Romance. Amin is honest about the possible margin of error and doesn't try to pass this book as an account of paramount rigor. Its definitely worth reading for its valuable perspective and input to todays politics and for its rich historical content covering all of the crusades.

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