The Race for Paradise - An Islamic History of the Crusades (Hardcover)

In 1099, when the first crusaders arrived triumphant and bloody before the walls of Jerusalem, they carved out a Christian European presence in the Islamic world that remained for centuries, bolstered by subsequent waves of new crusades and pilgrimages. But how did medieval Muslims understand these events? What does an Islamic history of the Crusades look like? The answers may surprise you. In The Race for Paradise, we see medieval Muslims managing this new and long-lived Crusader threat not simply as victims or as victors, but as everything in-between, on all shores of the Muslim Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria. This is not just a straightforward tale of warriors and kings clashing in the Holy Land - of military confrontations and enigmatic heros such as the great sultan Saladin. What emerges is a more complicated story of border-crossers and turncoats; of embassies and merchants; of scholars and spies, all of them seeking to manage this new threat from the barbarian fringes of their ordered world. When seen from the perspective of medieval Muslims, the Crusades emerge as something altogether different from the high-flying rhetoric of the European chronicles: as a diplomatic chess-game to be mastered, a commercial opportunity to be seized, a cultural encounter shaping Muslim experiences of Europeans until the close of the Middle Ages - and, as so often happened, a political challenge to be exploited by ambitious rulers making canny use of the language of jihad.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	July 2014
Authors:	Paul M. Cobb (Professor of Islamic History)
Dimensions:	242 x 161 x 26mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	335
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-953201-8
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 500 to 1500 Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Islam Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Ethnic studies > Islamic studies Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations > Battles & campaigns Books > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > History > World history > 500 to 1500 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Islam
LSN:	0-19-953201-X
Barcode:	9780199532018

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!