Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780465019298)

At Moson, the river Danube ran red with blood. At Antioch, the Crusaders -- their saddles freshly decorated with sawed-off heads -- indiscriminately clogged the streets with the bodies of eastern Christians and Turks. At Ma'arra, they cooked children on spits and ate them. By the time the Crusaders reached Jerusalem, their quest -- and their violence -- had become distinctly otherworldly: blood literally ran shin-deep through the streets as the Crusaders overran the sacred city.

Beginning in 1095 and culminating four bloody years later, the First Crusade represented a new kind of warfare: holy, unrestrained, and apocalyptic. In Armies of Heaven, medieval historian Jay Rubenstein tells the story of this cataclysmic event through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders. A thrilling work of military and religious history, Armies of Heaven will revolutionize our understanding of the Crusades.

Author: Jay Rubenstein
ISBN-10: 0465019293
ISBN-13: 9780465019298
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Published: 11/01/2011
Pages: 424
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.48lbs
Size: 9.53h x 6.43w x 1.32d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2011
Publishers Weekly 10/10/2011 pg. 53
Booklist 11/15/2011 pg. 9
Christian Century 04/04/2012 pg. 40
Choice 05/01/2012
Reference and Research Bk News 12/01/2011 pg. 21