Excellent History of Saladin

The rare and Excellent History of Saladin (Crusade Texts in Translation)
by D. S. Richards
Edition: Paperback
Price: $25.76


Saladin is one of the few Muslim Leaders that was accorded high recognition both by the Muslim as well as the Christian. When the Christian captured Jerusalem, thousands including women and children were slaughtered. However, that was not the case, when Saladin recaptured the city.

The story of Saladin was originally written by Baha Addin, on his own account of his life when when served as qadi al-askar (the judge for the army) under the command of Saladin, from 1188 until Saladin's death in 1193. His position and his access to information make this an authoritative and essential source for Saladin's career, while his personal relationship with the sultan adds a sympathetic and moving element to the account of his final years. Aside from its inherent value as a source for the history of Egypt and the Middle East, it therefore provides a much-needed complement and corrective to the widely-known Latin accounts of the Crusades and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. This translation is based on a fuller edition of the text than that used in the previous 19th-century translation, and takes into account the translator's readings of the earliest manuscript of the work, dated July 1228.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent primary source., July 18, 2008
'The forces of Islam surrounded the forces of unbelief and impiety on all sides, loosed volleys of arrows at them and engaged them hand to hand.'

'I fear to make peace, not knowing what may become of me. Our enemy will grow strong, now that they have retained these lands.'

After the 14th revision I shall just say I enjoyed reading this book. It is a good read as well as being a must have for anyone with even a remote interest in the crusades, the military orders (mentioned in passing a few times), the history of the area, the history of religion and so on. I must also mention pleasure of seeing the view from the other side which this enabled me to do. It was interesting to see (among others) Richard the Lionheart's name always followed by a phrase similar to 'may God forsake him'.