
The Crusades
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Narrated by:
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Nadia May
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By:
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Zoë Oldenbourg
About this listen
With subtlety and exceptional sensitivity, Oldenbourg analyzes the complicated tangle of currents and ideas that motivated the Crusades. As Oldenbourg describes them, the Crusades were not simply a religious phenomenon, nor were they motivated by pure aggression. They were the result of a religious climate that led people of all walks of life to leave their homes and follow the unattainable ideal of heaven on earth. Oldenbourg evokes the entire structure of feudal society and reveals the ingenuity of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The story is peopled with such great personalities as Bohemond, Tancred, Peter the Hermit, Godfrey of Bouillon, Saladin, and Richard the Lionheart.
©1966 Random House (P)1997 Blackstone Audio Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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The listener may benefit from reading less detailed works about the crusades before wading into this book because s/he would at least be familiar with the major places and names and could then listen to this work to to fill in colorful details and minor events and personalities.
A serious history of the first 3 crusades
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A very detailed account of the first three crusade
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The second time around, I was less hurried and was able to listen to these chapters with pleasure. And she does, eventually, get on with it, providing a vigorous, anecdote-rich history of the first three Crusades. The military action develops clearly and vividly, and the background chapters are useful in understanding how Europe and the East came to blows in the way they did. It's a good overview.
Oldenbourg chooses to focus almost entirely on the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other crusader kingdoms - "Outremer," or "Over the Sea," as they were known. This focus helps to explain, in two crucial areas, the choices she made, choices that I think weaken the book.
First, why only three Crusades? I would have preferred to see the story continued at least through the fourth Crusade, when the Western Europeans sacked their former ally, Constantinople; but that Crusade has little to do with Jerusalem. It's a reasonable approach, but it leaves out one of the more interesting campaigns (not to mention a generous helping of irony).
Second, while the main action was happening in Palestine, there were auxiliary conflicts in other areas, especially during the Second Crusade. There were campaigns against Muslims in Spain, against pagan tribes in Northern Germany, against fellow Christians - "heretics" - in southern France. Oldenbourg covers almost none of this.
Another aspect of the book that troubled me is a curious anti-feminist slant to some of the narrative. For example, Melisende, one of the queens of Jerusalem, gets especially negative treatment for trying to meddle in politics. The picture of her given by Oldenbourg is 180 degrees from that given by Jonathan Phillips in his excellent one-volume history, Holy Warriors. Phillips devotes a whole chapter to Melisende, titled “A Woman of Unusual Wisdom and Discretion.”
Those reservations aside, it is, as I said, a good overview. And Nadia May is, as always, an energetic reader, someone who is able to bring a lightness of tone to her narration that in some mysterious way, probably known only to her, complements the seriousness of the narrative.
Vigorous narrative, incomplete
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Would you try another book from Zoë Oldenbourg and/or Nadia May?
Depending on the subject matterWould you recommend The Crusades to your friends? Why or why not?
Most of my friends aren't interested in history the way I am, but assuming I had some who were I would probably do so, but make sure to tell them that most of the book is very dry.Would you listen to another book narrated by Nadia May?
Yeah, I guess.Did The Crusades inspire you to do anything?
NoAny additional comments?
The book is very long which is good. It's very detailed. The descriptions of the battles are great. It could have been better. Maybe better imagery and a bit shorter. The last chapter went back over everything which isn't a bad idea, but just seemed to drag on. I'm glad I got it. It taught me a lot but for those who aren't really interested in this time, this isn't the book for you at all.Very detailed, but most of the time very dry
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She does justice to history
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Performance and production worst I have heard
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Would you consider the audio edition of The Crusades to be better than the print version?
This is my first review on an audio book,,but I felt I really should write one seeing that this book only has 4 stars...as it is every bit a 5 star book in my honest estimation. As well, the narrator is just perfect! loved listening to her and she reads like she is the one who wrote the book..very good!What other book might you compare The Crusades to and why?
I haven't ever read or watched a documentary on the Crusades as thorough and as good as this book .What does Nadia May bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Very pleased with her reading and style..she read perfectly and sounded like she had even written the book. it was just perfect really. hope she narrates some more books that are this good .Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
no,i wanted to re read it over and over..as I like to really get into every word of a book as good as this!Any additional comments?
just extremely good...can't believe it only has 4 stars ...maybe my 5 star review will bump it up closer to where it belongs on the rating scale!Unbelievably Good! (Love the Narration as well!)
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Interesting to listen to...but dated perspective
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Excellent Study of the Crusades
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Good for History
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