Eleve de Vauban  | 31 Jul 2014 9:38 a.m. PST |
Can anyone suggest one or two good books on the Crusades, available here in the UK? This is a new period of history for me and looking on-line there are dozens of titles available. I would like something fairly academic that includes the opposing forces, strategy and tactics, campaigns, geography and maps. |
 Endless Grubs | 31 Jul 2014 10:13 a.m. PST |
Runciman's series was good IMO. |
| Oh Bugger | 31 Jul 2014 10:14 a.m. PST |
Yes, get the Runciman trilogy A History of the Crusades volumes 1, 2 and three. Available in paperback and written in chronological order. Should not cost much if you buy online and all are excellent in every way. Smail's Crusading Warfare is well worth a read and Ian Heath's A Wargamers Guide to the Crusades is good too. If you only want to buy two get Runciman. |
| Bellbottom | 31 Jul 2014 10:17 a.m. PST |
3rd for Runciman, also Ian Heath |
| Tarleton | 31 Jul 2014 12:25 p.m. PST |
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| advocate | 31 Jul 2014 2:00 p.m. PST |
I'll second Smail's "Crusading Warfare". Runciman will give you a history, but Smail will give you a good idea of the military problems faced by Outremer. |
| Sobieski | 31 Jul 2014 6:31 p.m. PST |
Runciman and Heath for mine. |
| raylev3 | 31 Jul 2014 9:01 p.m. PST |
I'd recommend "The Crusader States" which is a history of the overall period from the 1st Crusade until the Crusader states lost their states on the mainland. I liked it because it's a good history and you walk away understanding that there really was a complex web of intrigue, alliances, and a variety of (wargameable) battles. Most think of the Crusades in the Middle East as Christians v. Muslims, which was true in a large sense, but this book points out that Christian fought Christian, Muslim fought Muslim, and at times Christians and Muslims allied together to fight against what they perceived as a greater threat to their mutual interests. Keep in mind this is not a battle book, with lots of battle details, it is a book about the states that puts the battles in context. It does discuss the battles however, but not in the detail you would want if you were doing a wargames scenario. Here's a UK link: link And here's a US link for anyone interested. link |
| Great War Ace | 01 Aug 2014 8:35 a.m. PST |
Heath's book is indispensable from the war gamer's pov and directly addresses what you want (but is it even available? – ah, it is, Amazon has three new and eighteen used link ). Another vote for Runciman, and I will add that in his appendices he goes into quite a bit of detail on numbers of troops. Also he makes an effort to flesh out some of his battle narratives with useful details including estimates on the numbers involved and the tactics…. |
| Sobieski | 02 Aug 2014 4:16 a.m. PST |
Runciman also turns it from a game into history; you have some idea what was really going on at the end of his history, rather than just a vague sense of "pretty white bards with red crosses, so they're Templars". Can I add, get Heath's "Armies and Enemies", not the "Wargamer's Guide", which is good, but redundant after Sir Steven. |
| Sobieski | 02 Aug 2014 4:18 a.m. PST |
Runciman also turns it from a game into history; you have some idea what was really going on at the end of his history, rather than just a vague sense of "pretty white bards with red crosses, so they're Templars". |
| French Wargame Holidays | 03 Aug 2014 3:25 p.m. PST |
John France, the expansion of catholic Christendom |
| The Last Conformist | 04 Aug 2014 2:13 a.m. PST |
John France, the expansion of catholic Christendom Consider also France's Victory in the East, which treats the First Crusade in detail. |
 oldbob | 04 Aug 2014 11:37 a.m. PST |
The "Encyclopedia of the Crusades" by "Alfred J. Andrea" info on everything dealing with the Crusades. A good starting point. |
