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Long acclaimed for his outstanding historical novels, Alfred Duggan now turns his attention to the retelling in a brilliant, straightforward, and factual narrative of the two hundred years in which the warriors of Christian Europe attempted to recover the Holy Land from Islam. Describing the great conflict from the point of view of the western Crusaders, Mr. Duggan tells the story of the Crusades from Pope Urban II's great exhortation to Christendom in 1095 to the fall of Acre in 1291.
The lofty dedication and courage of the original Crusaders did not descend to all their successors, and an ambiguity of aim was apparent from the beginning. The Christians of the East were to be rescued, and Jerusalem was to be liberated. But which objective came first? This confusion of purpose, along with the political rivalries of the various leaders, accounts importantly for the ultimate failure of the Crusades.
Emphasizing the strategy and tactics employed, Alfred Duggan's account of the Holy War provides not only an introduction to, but an authentic and exciting narrative of, a major portion of world history.
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