Series:

General Military

3 total works

Cover of Crusader Castles in the Holy Land
The bloody crusades that swept across the Middle East in medieval times left their mark on the landscape, where fortifications that once acted as bastions of power for the beleaguered Crusader States now cast their ruined shadows over the earth. "Crusader Castles in the Holy Land" is a beautifully illustrated guide to the development, construction, purpose and history of these castles. Examining the castles built in the Holy Land between 1097 and 1302 as well as the castles built in Cyprus, Greece and the Aegean between 1191 and 1571, this book provides a rare overview of the history and notably the evolution of fortresses and defences during the Crusades.

Cover of God's Warriors

God's Warriors

by Reynold a Nicholson and David Nicolle

Published 25 March 2005
This book tells the story of the momentous campaign that led to the Muslim capture of Jerusalem in 1187, following the disastrous Crusader defeat at Hattin, where Saladin's troops destroyed the Christian army. These events resulted in the collapse of the kingdom of Jerusalem and sparked off the Third Crusade under Richard I. The authors take a close look at the two most intriguing warrior types involved in the conflict: the Knight Templar and the Saracen Faris. Their motivation, training and combat experiences are examined, as the authors explore what it was really like to fight in the Crusades.

Cover of Fall of Constantinople

Fall of Constantinople

by David Nicolle

Published 2 May 2007

Byzantium was the last bastion of the Roman Empire following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It fought for survival for eight centuries until, in the mid-15th century, the emperor Constantine XI ruled just a handful of whittled down territories, an empire in name and tradition only.

This lavishly illustrated book chronicles the history of Byzantium, the evolution of the defenses of Constantinople and the epic siege of the city, which saw a force of 80,000 men repelled by a small group of determined defenders until the Turks smashed the city's protective walls with artillery. Regarded by some as the tragic end of the Roman Empire, and by others as the belated suppression of an aging relic by an ambitious young state, the impact of the capitulation of the city resonated through the centuries and heralded the rapid rise of the Islamic Ottoman Empire.