I knew the Crusades were an attempt by the Europeans to gain control of Jerusalem and of the other sites that were significant to the Christian religion. But that is about all I knew. Just that bare fact. I learned a lot about the Crusades from this book and it is chock full of interesting details. So if you are looking to learn more about the Crusades, you will find this book very informative.
However, one of the author's theories is that the violence visited upon the Middle East by wave after wave of invading Crusader armies is the root cause of the violence in the region today, as Western violence conditioned the Muslims to respond in kind, a conditioning in effect even today. I can't agree with that even after reading her book. It seems to me that violence is inherent in humanity, it's just part of our nature.
One thing I found irksome about her writing is the way she portrays Islamists as just put upon and misunderstood and she soft peddles their violence while condemning Israeli and Western violence in the strongest terms. At times, reading through it, you wonder if she had decided to convert to Islam. She seems to look at Islam through rose-colored glasses. But she has no such glasses for the Israelis, to quote, "Today it is the Jews who are the brutal occupiers of Bethlehem and the other towns in the occupied territories, and some of their methods would have shocked even the Romans." Oh, really? Would have shocked a people who used to go to their arenas and be entertained by watching humans being torn to bits by wild animals? Yeah, right.
Read her book for the historical information but as for the rest of it, keep in mind that she is biased towards Islam and biased against Israel and Christianity. She is not exactly an impartial reporter of the facts.
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