Written by a team of leading scholars, this fascinating book presents an authoritative and comprehensive history of the Crusades from the preaching of the First Crusade in 1095 to the legacy of crusading ideas and imagery today. 'makes the results of the recent academic study of the Crusades accessible to a wide section of the general public and succeeds in conveying that this is a living and developing subject, which has far from exhausted its potential' THES 'The great merit of Professor Riley-Smith's book is to follow the story down to the present day' Church Times 'Detailed exploration of the plots, intrigue and subterfuge surrounding the events and leading protagonists make for fascinating reading' Universe 'fascinating ... a comprehensive history of the wars' History Today 'In a series of finely-crafted and admirably succinct essays the contributors unravel a number of important medieval political and religious themes. This comprehensive approach adds a great deal to the book's interest and presents some of the best insights of modern Crusading scholarship ... excellent' Tablet