Crusaders

«Voyages, battles, sieges and slaughter: Dan Jones's tumultuous and thrilling history of the crusades is one of the best... Jones is exceptionally good at giving evocative snapshots of medieval life, sometimes poignant, sometimes pure Monty Python'»

«This is rollercoaster history... Dan Jones has a nose for the dramatic, disgusting and bizarre... Every page of his extraordinary book provides vivid evidence of the Crusades' continuing ability to mesmerise'»

«'A powerful story brilliantly told. Dan Jones writes with pace, wit and insight'»

«'A fresh and vibrant account of a conflict that raged across medieval centuries'»

«Compelling... Jones is adept at teasing out the array of motivations that propelled the crusaders on an arduous, often harrowing, journey to an uncertain, violent destination... An avowedly pluralist account in which equal weight is given to the experiences of Christians and Muslims... Jones has written an epic of his own here, as complex as it is compelling'»

«'Dan Jones has the priceless ability to write page-turning narrative history underpinned by authoritative scholarship. Never before has the era of the Crusades been depicted in such bright and striking colours, or their story told with such gusto'»

«'The master of the Middle Ages turns his attention to the compelling saga of religious conflict'»

«Crusaders excels not only in narrating this complex history in such a readable and immersive manner, but also in setting events in their wider contexts... Narratives of medieval knights in combat and conquest can run the risk of romanticising their actions through efforts to spark further interest from the reader, but Jones's treatement of the source material is measured under the engaging prose. Jones has drawn together a compelling work that is weighty in pages but always highly readable'»

«'Dan Jones writes every history book as through it were a Netflix drama'»

«'His tale is steeped in scholarly research and lively writing. Were it not for the violence inherent to his subject matter, you might call it divine'»

«A distinct new perspective... A fantastic, scholarly book... Masterfully told and makes for a gripping read. A must for anyone with an interest in the period'»

«'[Jones] offers a 'tableau history' – a series of stories with wonderfully bizarre characters on both sides. It's impossible to be cynical about Jones the historian; he's enormously prolific, yet each book is impressively researched and beautifully written. He's a passionate writer, a rumbustious knight who loves his own literary crusade'»

«'Bloody battles and epic sieges abound in this energetic history of the Crusades, a series of adventures that still has ramifications today'»

«Typically breezy and well-paced... Jones sets out to entertain as well as inform, covering a great deal of ground'»

«The Crusades is a challenging era for the novice but it is brought thrillingly to life in this imaginative history from the broadcaster and best-selling author... Jones concludes with a timely reminder of the effect the period still has on our world'»

«'Voyages, battles, sieges and slaughter: a dramatic history of the wars for the Holy Lands that brings the Crusades to fresh and compelling life'»

«A balanced view... Jones sticks to a strict academic approach. He mixes recitations of key events and personages with storytelling'»

«'Skilfully balancing information and entertainment'»

«'Jones has assembled a panoramic, detailed and readable account of a vast sweep of history that must have taken a staggering amount of work'»