DeVries, Kelly u.a. Battles of the Crusades

"Battles of the Crusades" introduces 20 key battles from this period of religiously-inspired conflict in Europe and the Middle East. Beginning with the battle of Dorylaeum (1097), where Anglo-French heavy cavalry decisively defeated a much larger Turkish army, and finishing with the battle of Varna (1444), where Sultan Murad II's Ottoman army destroyed a combined Hungarian and Polish force, examples from every era and campaign are featured. The First Crusade is represented by battles at Antioch (1098), Jerusalem (1099), and Harran (1104), while battles between the Crusader states and their Muslim neighbours include Sarmada (1119), Montgisard (1177) and Saladin's destruction of the Crusader army at Hattin (1187). Colourful accounts of lesser-known Crusades, such as the Christian recapture of Lisbon (1147), the massacre of the Albigensian heretics at Beziers (1209) and the destruction of Louis IX's expensively assembled crusader army at Mansura (1250), are also included. Battles from the Reconquista of Spain (Las Navas, 1212) and the expansion of the Teutonic Knights (Lake Peipus, 1242, and Grunwald, 1410) make this a rounded account of 400 years of religious conflict. Each battle includes a contextual introduction, a concise description of the action and an analysis of the aftermath. It also includes more than 200 colour maps, artworks and photographs.

The reader not only learns about the background, course and consequences of the individual battles, but also about the tactics, equipment and weaponry of the crusaders and their opponents. Full-page colour tactical maps show the main phases of each battle or siege. In addition, special text boxes provide the most important facts about the battles at a glance.