The Legend of the Middle Ages

Remi Brague (University of Chicago Press)

Featuring a series of essays and an interview, which explore the relationships between Christian, Jewish and Muslim thinkers in the Middle Ages, this volume seeks to reconstruct this complicated and philosophically rich period, revealing its philosophical and theological nuances and its lessons for our own times.

The Great Caliphs

Amira K. Bennison
I.B. Tauris

An account of the achievements of the ‘Abbasid age, which challenges popular conceptions about the Arab conquests, revealing significant continuity between the ‘Abbasid caliphate, which flourished between 750 and 1258, and the great civilizations of antiquity which it overran.

Saint Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History of a Christian-Muslim Encounter

John V. Tolan (Oxford University Press)

A study of the richly varied artistic responses to the meeting between Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in Egypt in 1219, from the thirteenth to the twentieth century, which provides and insight into the evolution of Western attitudes towards Islam and the Arab world over the past 800 years.

Islam’s War Against the Crusaders

W.B. Bartlett (The History Press)

A study of the Crusades from the Islamic point of view, which considers the effect of the crusades on the Holy Land and the response of the Muslim world to the invasions of European Crusaders.

God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215

David Levering Lewis (Norton)

An account of Islam’s collision with Dark Ages Europe and the ensuing political and cultural revolutions, from the fall of the Persian and Roman empires through to the rise of prophet Muhammad and the creation of Muslim Spain.

Saladin

A. R. Azzam (Pearson)

A biography of Saladin, which explores the Islamic world that he lived in, transformed by the Sunni Revival in the 10th and 11th centuries, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the leader himself.

The Ismaili Assassins: A History of Medieval Murder

James Waterson (Frontline Books)

A study of the origins, actions and enduring legacy of the Ismaili Assassins, an underground group of political killers, which provides an insight into the history of the Crusades and the early Islamic period.

The Grail Quest and the World of Arthur

ed. Norris J. Lacy (Boydell & Brewer)

A collection of essays which discuss quest themes in Arthurian literature, especially the quest for the Holy Grail. Covering topics from the Grail of the Crusaders to female desire in the Arthurian legend, they focus in particular on the incompatibility of the Arthurian world and the Grail quest.

SUMMARY: The Real World of the Bayeux Tapestry

Michael J. Lewis
The History Press

An introduction to the Bayeux Tapestry, which examines the story of the tapestry itself, as well as its design and production and the extent to which it is a reliable representation of the events of 1066.

SUMMARY: Harthacnut: The Last Danish King of England

Ian Howard
The History Press

A biography of Harthacnut, the last Danish king to rule England from 1013 to 1042 and the son of Emma of Normandy, which reveals his influence on the course of English history and provides a deeper understanding of the origins of the Norman Conquest.

SUMMARY: Fighting for the Cross: crusading to the holy land

Norman Housley
Yale University Press

The story of the experience of individuals who took part in the crusades, which considers the challenges of raising and transporting the combatants from Europe to the East and the complications presented by non-combatant pilgrims.