The Crusades Through Arab Eyes

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (French: Les Croisades vues par les Arabes) is a French language historical essay by Lebanese author Amin Maalouf.[1]

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
First edition (French)
AuthorAmin Maalouf
LanguageFrench
SubjectHistory
PublisherJC Lattès France
Schocken Books United States of America
Publication date
1983
1984 English translation
Publication placeFrance
ISBN0-8052-0898-4
OCLC22435105

As the name suggests, the book is a narrative retelling of primary sources drawn from various Arab chronicles that seeks to provide an Arab perspective on the Crusades, and especially regarding the Crusaders – the (Franj), as the Arabs called them – who were considered cruel, savage, ignorant and culturally backward.[2]

From the first invasion in the eleventh century through till the general collapse of the Crusades in the thirteenth century, the book constructs a narrative that is the reverse of that common in the Western world, describing the main facts as bellicose and displaying situations of a quaint historic setting, where Western Christians are viewed as "barbarians", and unaware of the most elementary rules of honor, dignity and social ethics.[3]

References

edit

Citations

edit
  1. ^ Bourget 2006, pp. 265–6.
  2. ^ Bourget 2006, pp. 264, 267, 268–9.
  3. ^ Bourget 2006, pp. 270–71.