Bloody medieval geopolitics in the service of God.
An Islamic sect and a Christian military order who shared a willingness to die.
Tibble, author of The Crusader Strategy: Defending the Holy Land, sets his scene in the Middle East in 1100, a disturbed time for many Islamic regimes when, out of the blue, the Crusaders appeared. After a bloody decade, four Christian “Crusader states” emerged that carried on but shrank over the next two centuries. Tibble reminds readers that neither of the two religions was monolithic and that Islam remains divided primarily into Shia and Sunni denominations. The assassins arose in Shiite Persia shortly before Crusaders arrived. Persia had recently been conquered by Sunni Turks, so there was no shortage of unhappy believers, and a charismatic leader founded a Shiite sect convinced that they were God’s chosen people. A fringe movement, it lacked numbers but developed an effective tactic. Believing that eternal rewards awaited those who eliminated the enemies of God, members regularly murdered those who stood in their way. This made a spectacular impression, and they enjoyed modest success, surviving until the Mongol invasion two centuries later. Drawing a parallel, the author introduces a concurrent Christian military order, the Knights Templar. Having conquered the Holy Land, most Crusaders returned home. When those who remained had difficulty fending off attacks from surrounding Islamic states, a few pious knights formed a brotherhood dedicated to protecting pilgrims. Attracting followers and money from Europe, the Knights Templar grew from a military order willing to die serving Christ into a wealthy organization whose influence rivaled that of European monarchs. Two centuries later, when the tide had turned against the Crusaders, Philip IV of France, always short of money, confiscated its wealth and executed most of its leaders. With no deep lessons to deliver, Tibble’s final chapter discusses the bestselling sci-fi fantasy video game Assassin’s Creed, which is not historically accurate but ingenious.
Bloody medieval geopolitics in the service of God.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780300282122
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist (1900–45) collected his work from WWII in two bestselling volumes, this second published in 1944, a year before Pyle was killed by a sniper’s bullet on Okinawa. In his fine introduction to this new edition, G. Kurt Piehler (History/Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville) celebrates Pyle’s “dense, descriptive style” and his unusual feel for the quotidian GI experience—a personal and human side to war left out of reporting on generals and their strategies. Though Piehler’s reminder about wartime censorship seems beside the point, his biographical context—Pyle was escaping a troubled marriage—is valuable. Kirkus, at the time, noted the hoopla over Pyle (Pulitzer, hugely popular syndicated column, BOMC hype) and decided it was all worth it: “the book doesn’t let the reader down.” Pyle, of course, captures “the human qualities” of men in combat, but he also provides “an extraordinary sense of the scope of the European war fronts, the variety of services involved, the men and their officers.” Despite Piehler’s current argument that Pyle ignored much of the war (particularly the seamier stuff), Kirkus in 1944 marveled at how much he was able to cover. Back then, we thought, “here’s a book that needs no selling.” Nowadays, a firm push might be needed to renew interest in this classic of modern journalism.
Pub Date: April 26, 2001
ISBN: 0-8032-8768-2
Page Count: 513
Publisher: Univ. of Nebraska
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2001
A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale.
A harrowing expedition to Antarctica, recounted by Departures senior features editor Sancton, who has reported from every continent on the planet.
On Aug. 16, 1897, the steam whaler Belgica set off from Belgium with young Adrien de Gerlache as commandant. Thus begins Sancton’s riveting history of exploration, ingenuity, and survival. The commandant’s inexperienced, often unruly crew, half non-Belgian, included scientists, a rookie engineer, and first mate Roald Amundsen, who would later become a celebrated polar explorer. After loading a half ton of explosive tonite, the ship set sail with 23 crew members and two cats. In Rio de Janeiro, they were joined by Dr. Frederick Cook, a young, shameless huckster who had accompanied Robert Peary as a surgeon and ethnologist on an expedition to northern Greenland. In Punta Arenas, four seamen were removed for insubordination, and rats snuck onboard. In Tierra del Fuego, the ship ran aground for a while. Sancton evokes a calm anxiety as he chronicles the ship’s journey south. On Jan. 19, 1898, near the South Shetland Islands, the crew spotted the first icebergs. Rough waves swept someone overboard. Days later, they saw Antarctica in the distance. Glory was “finally within reach.” The author describes the discovery and naming of new lands and the work of the scientists gathering specimens. The ship continued through a perilous, ice-littered sea, as the commandant was anxious to reach a record-setting latitude. On March 6, the Belgica became icebound. The crew did everything they could to prepare for a dark, below-freezing winter, but they were wracked with despair, suffering headaches, insomnia, dizziness, and later, madness—all vividly capture by Sancton. The sun returned on July 22, and by March 1899, they were able to escape the ice. With a cast of intriguing characters and drama galore, this history reads like fiction and will thrill fans of Endurance and In the Kingdom of Ice.
A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984824-33-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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