Frankopan, Peter Kriegspilger. Der erste Kreuzzug

The author looks at one of the most momentous warlike expeditions in world history in a completely new light. In 1096, some 8,000 crusaders set out to bring Jerusalem and the burial place of Jesus back under Christian rule after more than 400 years. What they undertook was an undertaking lasting several years, marked by cruelty, disease and death, which was to leave its mark on the world for a long time: Europe profited from the cultural blossoming of the Orient, the Oriental trade and with it the Italian port cities flourished, four Crusader states were established.

On the basis of hitherto hardly considered sources, Peter Frankopan tells the story of this "Holy War" - and for the first time brings Alexios, the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, into the centre of attention. For it was precisely this ruler from the East who was the actual initiator of the crusade, and not, as is commonly assumed, the Roman Pope. Frankopan dares a remarkable reinterpretation of this epochal event, which will change our understanding of the Crusader movement. History writing as it should be: vivid, exciting and full of new insights.