About the Author

Thomas Asbridge is Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London, and the author of 'The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones' (2014), 'The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land' (2010) and 'The First Crusade: A New History' (2004). He studied for a BA in Ancient and Medieval History at Cardiff University, and then gained his PhD in Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Thomas wrote and presented a BBC documentary, 'The Greatest Knight: William Marshal', and a landmark three-part documentary series 'The Crusades' for the BBC, filmed on location across the Near East and Europe. He has also appeared in many other internationally broadcast television documentaries and radio programs, and has worked as a historical consultant for HBO and Company Pictures. He now lives in southern England.

Reviews

Praise For The First Crusade: "Asbridge, in keeping with his aim to produce a popular history, writes with maximum vividness." - Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
"Rousing. . . . Asbridge knows this territory well . . . he even walked 350 miles of the crusaders' route." - Christian Science Monitor (list of noteworthy nonfiction 2004)
"Asbridge, a British authority on the Crusades, brilliantly recreates the three-year history of the First Crusade, chronicling its difficulties and victories, not downplaying its brutality but emphasizing its genuinely religious impulse. . . . Asbridge combines fast-paced history writing, evocative prose and lucid research for a first-rate history of the First Crusade." - Publishers Weekly
"Gives exactly the sort of fast-flowing narrative the story demands." - New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant, authoritative, and accessible, Thomas Asbridge's THE CRUSADES is a must read. Asbridge balances impeccable scholarship with a gifted storyteller's engaging voice. He vividly portrays the driving forces and personalities, the perspectives of Christians and Muslims, and the legacy of the Crusades in Christian and Muslim history and imagination." - Professor John L. Esposito, Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, and author of The Future of Islam.
"A truly comprehensive history of holy war in the Holy Land. Emphasizing the dramatic Third Crusade and its heroic antagonists, Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, the narrative reads like an adventure story, albeit one that is both factual and instructive." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Asbridge has produced a truly comprehensive history of holy war in the Holy Land . . . that reads like an adventure story, albeit one that is both factual and instructive." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)