Table of Contents

The monks of war. Latin Syria 1099-1291: the birth of a new vocation; the bulwark of Jerusalem; armageddon. The crusade on the Baltic 1200-1560: the crusade on the Baltic; the Ordensland - an army with a country; the crusaders without a cause. The Reconquista 1158-1493: the Reconquista; the great advance; kings and masters; triumph and nemesis. Readjustment 1291-1522: readjustment and the Templar dissolution; Rhodes and the Sea Knights; the three sieges. the last crusade 1523-1571: the battle for the Mediterranean. Baroque paladins 1571-1789. Survival - against all odds 1789-1995.

About the Author

Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Cambridge University. He is the author of Richard III: England's Black Legend, The Monks of War, and The War of the Roses.

Reviews

"Undeniably the work of someone who knows and accepts the standards of critical history, but ... who sees the past also as an epic or a colourful spectacle"
--Professor David Knowles in The Times Literary Supplement"His scholarship is great, his theme both interesting and largely unexplored and his judgment sound"
--Economist"The book is excellent and firmly based on the primary sources of which Seward has a remarkable grasp."
--New Society"Compulsive reading, attractively written, and retaining one's fascinated interest throughout"
--Catholic Herald