A review by siria
The First Crusade: A New History by Thomas Asbridge

3.0

Asbridge is himself an academic, but in The First Crusade he is writing firmly in the popular history mold. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and as an introduction to the topic it's quite serviceable. He covers the main points of the First Crusade—which took place from 1096 to 1099—at a fast clip and with an eye for an engaging anecdote. I found some of his introductory and concluding analysis a little overblown, however, and with a tendency to make claims that I couldn't quite buy into, seemingly for the sake of sounding more dramatic or academically sexy. (Also, the sooner that popular history books stop using the word 'feudal', the easier that historians' jobs will be.) For my taste, the focus of the book was also a little too much on military history at the expense of the social, cultural and religious upheaval occasioned by the Crusades. Still, I'd recommend the book to a layperson looking for a place to start on the subject but isn't quite willing to face Runciman.