Description: According to tradition, the First Crusade began at Pope Urban II's instigation and culminated in July 1099, when western European knights liberated Jerusalem. But what if the First Crusade's real catalyst lay far to the east of Rome? Countering nearly a millennium of scholarship, Peter Frankopan reveals the First Crusade's untold history.
Brief description: Peter Frankopan is Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research at the University of Oxford and author of The Silk Roads.
Review Quotes: A dazzling book, perfectly combining deep scholarship and easy readability. The most important addition to Crusading literature since Steven Runciman.--John Julius Norwich, author of Byzantium