Description: This volume collects 20 papers on the Crusades by one of the world's leading experts on medieval Islamic history. It explores the distinctive nature of Islamic jihad as expressed in poetry, sermons and inscriptions; the development of the counter-crusade; and the careers of major Muslim leaders including Zengi and Saladin.
Brief description: Carole Hillenbrand is Honorary Professorial Fellow, Professor Emerita at the University of Edinburgh and Professor of Islamic History at the University of St Andrews since 2013. In 2005 she became the first non-Muslim scholar to be awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies, reflecting her 'revolutionary approach to the largely one-sided subject of the Crusades'. She is author of The Crusades (EUP, 1999), The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate (Albany, 1989), A Muslim Principality in Crusader Times (Brill, 1990), and co-editor (with C. E. Bosworth) of Qajar Iran, (Edinburgh, 1984) and editor of The Sultan's Turret (Brill, 1999).
Review Quotes: Offers afresh the Muslim perspective of the Crusades and will prove a handy tool for students, scholars, and those interested in the subject.--Muhammad Yaseen Gada, Department of Higher Education (J&K), Kashmir "Reading Religion"