Crusades

WORLD HISTORY: C 500 TO C 1500. The Crusades were a centuries-long series of military campaigns in a violent struggle between the Christian and Islamic worlds. Such wars were fought not only against Islamic empires in Asia Minor, the Holy Land and throughout the Mediterranean region, but also within Europe against heretics, pagans and opponents of the Church. "Crusades" traces these major expeditions and focuses on key episodes such as the titanic struggles over Jerusalem and Constantinople. War, however, is not the whole story: the encounter between East and West opened the eyes of Europeans to the world outside, stimulating trade and the exchange of ideas. Anyone who wishes to probe the historical roots of 21st-century tensions between Islam and the West, or simply to learn about one of the most fascinating phenomena of the Middle Ages, will find this book endlessly informative and enriching.