On July 4, 1187 the legendary Muslim leader Saladin destroyed the Crusader army of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem with a terrible slaughter at the battle of Hattin - and subsequently restored the Holy City of Jerusalem to Islamic rule. The carnage at Hattin was the culmination of almost a century of religious wars between Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land. It had enormous consequences for the whole medieval world because it produced an intensification of holy war between Islam and Europe for over another century and, in retrospect, marked the beginning of the end for the Crusader presence in the Middle East. In the 20th century, memory of the battle was revived as a symbol of Arab hope for liberation from Crusader Imperialism and in the 21st, it has become a rallying cry for radical Muslim fundamentalists in their struggle for the soul of Islam. In this new volume in the Great Battles series, John France analyzes the origins and course of this pivotal battle, illuminating the roots of the bitter hatred that underlay it and explains its significance in world history - from medieval times to the present.

Hattin: Great Battles Series

History

France, John

Europe

Oxford University Press

Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades 1000-1300 (Warfare and History)

Cornell University Press

Perilous Glory: The Rise of Western Military Power

This expansive book surveys the history of warfare from ancient Mesopotamia to the Gulf War in search of a deeper understanding of the origins of Western warfare and the reasons for its eminence today. Historian John France explores the experience of war around the globe, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. His bold conclusions cast doubt on well-entrenched attitudes about the development of military strength, the impact of culture on warfare, the future of Western dominance, and much more.
Taking into account wars waged by virtually all civilizations since the beginning of recorded history, France finds that despite enormous cultural differences, war was conducted in distinctly similar ways right up to the Military Revolution and the pursuit of technological warfare in the nineteenth century. Since then, European and American culture has shaped warfare, but only because we have achieved a sense of distance from it, France argues. He warns that the present eminence of U.S. power is much more precarious and accidental than commonly believed. The notion that war is a distant phenomenon is only an illusion, and our cultural attitudes must change accordingly.

Ancient Civilizations

Yale University Press

A major new history of war that challenges our understanding of military dominance and how it is achieved This expansive book surveys the history of warfare from ancient Mesopotamia to the Gulf War in search of a deeper understanding of the origins of Western warfare and the reasons for its eminence today. Historian John France explores the experience of war around the globe, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. His bold conclusions cast doubt on well-entrenched attitudes about the development of military strength, the impact of culture on warfare, the future of Western dominance, and much more.
Taking into account wars waged by virtually all civilizations since the beginning of recorded history, France finds that despite enormous cultural differences, war was conducted in distinctly similar ways right up to the Military Revolution and the pursuit of technological warfare in the nineteenth century. Since then, European and American culture has shaped warfare, but only because we have achieved a sense of distance from it, France argues. He warns that the present eminence of U.S. power is much more precarious and accidental than commonly believed. The notion that war is a distant phenomenon is only an illusion, and our cultural attitudes must change accordingly.

Warfare, Crusade and Conquest in the Middle Ages (Variorum Collected Studies)

This volume brings together a series of articles by John France, published over a span of more than forty years, covering a number of aspects of the military and crusading history of the Middle Ages, both in Europe and the Near East. An interest in understanding how war worked and why informs a first group of articles, ranging from Carolingian armies to the organisation of war in the 13th century. The focus then turns to the Crusades, the most ambitious conquests of the era, with a set of studies on the First Crusade and others on the manner and conduct of warfare in the territories of the Latin East. The volume also includes a major unpublished analysis, co-authored with Nicholas Morton, of the problems faced by the local Islamic powers in the early Crusading period, reminding us that an army is only as strong as its enemies permit, and suggesting that the crusaders should be seen in this light.

Routledge

The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000-1714

The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000-1714 is a fascinating and accessible survey that places the medieval Crusades in their European context, and examines, for the first time, their impact on European expansion.  Taking a unique approach that focuses on the motivation behind the Crusades, John France chronologically examines the whole crusading movement, from the development of a ‘crusading impulse’ in the eleventh century through to an examination of the relationship between the Crusades and the imperialist imperatives of the early modern period. France provides a detailed examination of the first Crusade, the expansion and climax of crusading during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the failure and fragmentation of such practices in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.  Concluding with an assessment of the influence of the Crusades across history, and replete with illustrations, maps, timelines, guides for further reading, and a detailed list of rulers across Europe and the Muslim world, this study provides students with an essential guide to a central aspect of medieval history.

The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000-1714 is a fascinating and accessible survey that places the medieval Crusades in their European context, and examines, for the first time, their impact on European expansion. Taking a unique approach that focuses on the motivation behind the Crusades, John France chronologically examines the whole crusading movement, from the development of a ‘crusading impulse’ in the eleventh century through to an examination of the relationship between the Crusades and the imperialist imperatives of the early modern period. France provides a detailed examination of the first Crusade, the expansion and climax of crusading during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the failure and fragmentation of such practices in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Concluding with an assessment of the influence of the Crusades across history, and replete with illustrations, maps, timelines, guides for further reading, and a detailed list of rulers across Europe and the Muslim world, this study provides students with an essential guide to a central aspect of medieval history.

The essential military tactics that have enabled commanders from Alexander the Great to General Giap to achieve victory on the battlefield. This groundbreaking book examines battle tactics that have achieved victory through the ages. Drawing on examples of battles on land, at sea, and in the air, the authors reveal the enduring value of each tactic in clear and compelling descriptions and analysis. How can you draw your enemy off-balance? When is the best moment to deliver a counterattack? What is the effect of shock action or defense in depth? This book shows how certain tactical concepts have stood the test of time. It illustrates how General Robert E. Lee, although heavily outnumbered, achieved a remarkable victory through an audacious flanking maneuver at Chancellorsville in 1863, and how the same bold move had been used effectively in Europe more than 600 years before by the king of France at Bouvines. It examines how Allied armies seized and retained the initiative through the airborne landings in Normandy in 1944, and how Soviet General Zhukov pierced enemy lines using Blitzkrieg tactics in Mongolia in 1939. The book features evocative photographs, illustrations, and paintings, and 28 specially commissioned battle plans. 113 black-and-white illustrations

How to Win on the Battlefield: 25 Key Tactics to Outwit, Outflank and Outfight the Enemy

Johnson, Rob

Whitby, Mike

Military

Thames&Hudson

Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade

The success of the First Crusade, and its capture of Jerusalem in 1099, has been conventionally explained by its ideological and political motivation. This book looks at the First Crusade primarily as a military campaign and asks why it was so successful. Modern writing about the crusade has tended to emphasize the moral dimension and the development of the idea of the crusade, but its fate was ultimately decided on the field of battle. This book looks at the nature of war at the end of the eleventh century and the military experience of all the contending parties in order to explain its extraordinary success.

Cambridge University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by France, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by France, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by France, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Hattin: Great Battles Series

Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades 1000-1300 (Warfare and History)

Perilous Glory: The Rise of Western Military Power

Perilous Glory: The Rise of Western Military Power

Warfare, Crusade and Conquest in the Middle Ages (Variorum Collected Studies)

The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000-1714

The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000-1714

How to Win on the Battlefield: 25 Key Tactics to Outwit, Outflank and Outfight the Enemy

Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade

Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade