The crusades through Arab eyes

Retraces two critical centuries of Middle Eastern history, presents an intriguing chronicle of the Crusades, and offers insights into the forces that shape Arab and Islamic consciousness today.

"European and Arab versions of the Crusades have little in common. What the West remembers as an epic effort to reconquer the Holy Land in portrayed here as a brutal, destructive unprovoked invasion by Barbarian hordes. When, under Saladin, a powerful Muslim army--inspired by prophets and poets-- defeated the Crusaders, it was the greatest victory ever won by a non-European society against the West. The Arab version of the Crusades is a heroic story of how the Muslims overcame their rivalries and united long enough to win a holy war. Amin Maalouf has combed the works of Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, many of them eyewitnesses and participants in the events they describe. Intriguing and entertaining, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes is a vivid portrait of a society nearly destroyed by internal conflict and shaken by traumatic encounter with an alien culture. Maalouf offers fascinating insights into the historical forces that even today shape Arab and Islamic consciousness."--Publisher's description.

Translation of: Les croisades vues par les Arabes.

Part one. Invasion (1096-1100). The Franj arrive -- An accursed maker of armour -- The cannibals of Ma'arra -- Part two. Occupation (1100-1128). Tripoli's two thousand days -- Turban-clad resistance -- Part three. Riposte (1128-1146). The Damascus conspiracies -- An emir among barbarians -- Part four. Victory (1146-1187). Nūr al-Dīn, the saint-king -- The rush for the Nile -- The tears of Saladin -- Part five. Reprieve (1187-1244). The impossible encounter -- The perfect and the just -- Part six. Expulsion (1244-1291). The Mongol scourge -- God grant that they never set foot there again!