Adrian Boas, an archaeologist with four decades' experience in the field, takes a fresh approach to investigating the experiences of crusaders, pilgrims, and settlers in the crusader states during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The book opens up the experience of medieval travel and crusading by drawing on personal reflection and comparison with contemporary events. Topics covered include wonderment at the strangeness of the East, adjusting to life in the Levant, the horrors of warfare, the drama of fortress and battlefield, and the theatrical beauty of religious architecture, together with new perceptions of a selection of characters known and less-known. The book encourages the reader to think more deeply as to the meaning of the topics involved.

Adrian Boas’s book, The Crusades Uncovered, is one of the newest additions to the short-form Past Imperfect series from ARC Humanities Press and is a delightful read. Constructed as a series of short and, at times, deeply personal vignettes, Boas effectively uses reflections about his own past intertwined with interpretations of world history as a foil to introduce his reader to a variety of medieval subjects, all of which tie back to the crusades. Written in an accessible and engaging style with short, topical essays that address matters as diverse as warfare and water storage, The Crusades Uncovered is bound to appeal to a wide variety of readers. With its modest price and short length (ninety-five pages for the core text), this slim volume presents a thoughtful discourse and intriguing reflections from a leading scholar on the crusades. [...]

The Crusades Uncovered is a highly readable volume that successfully bridges the modern to the medieval in an enticing manner sure to resonate with readers. The text’s strongest attribute is its ability to use evocative examples from the present to address the medieval past, an approach bound to appeal to diverse audiences but with particular relevance for undergraduates or casual readers. It is also an approach that successfully achieves Boas’s aim of demonstrating the value of studying history as a relevant, indispensable link to our present, a relatable purpose for other historians to emulate.

Preface

Chapter 1: Perceptions—Travel, Legend, Warfare, Wonderment 

Chapter 2: Places—Hattin, Fortresses, Jerusalem, Acre, The Countryside

Chapter 3: People—Guy de Lusignan, Marino Sanudo, Germain, Saladin

Postscript: Hit and Myth—History and Mystery

Further Reading