book suggestion needed for a friend

[Sir Wolf]

Hey, can you suggest any good books that 1) give a military history of the crusades putting the battles and people in context and/or 2) describe what combat in the crusades was like for different groups of people from all sides?

what do you think?

dungeon fire and sword
barbarian controversy


what else?

[Sir William]

Here's something for him to start with:

A History of the Crusades: Volume 1, The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Cambridge University Press 1951)
A History of the Crusades: Volume 2, The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East (Cambridge University Press 1952)
A History of the Crusades: Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades (Cambridge University Press 1954)


I read the third one and have to go back and acquire (and read) the first two.  Kind of dry, but a must-read for any Crusader historian or enthusiast.

[Frater de Beaumanoir]

For a good "down and dirty" feel to combat in the First Crusade, try the book Seige of Jerusalem by Conor Kostick.

[Sir William]

On my list of books to acquire!  Now I just have to decide...digital or paperback?  That Kindle is spoiling me!

[Sir James A]

On my list of books to acquire!  Now I just have to decide...digital or paperback?  That Kindle is spoiling me!

I'm a tech guy, but for books I always try to go for paperback. Friends and family can borrow them to read, and there's no chance of it being dropped / broken / etc (unless you count bathtub droppage incidents - which would ruin the kindle too, and at a much higher price tag).

[Sir William]

I did not know people still took baths!  Showers are so much shorter and cost-effective (unless you're my wife in which case, either or lol)...not to say you're any less manly if you like to read while you bathe...so long as you don't tell me it is accompanied with a glass of chilled chardonnay.