The first volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades 'On a February day in the year AD 638 the Caliph Omar e

Sir Steven Runciman explores the First Crusade and the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem.

Why did the medieval Church bless William of Normandy's invasion of Christian England in 1066 and authorise cultural genocide in Provence? How could a Christian

"Pulls off the enviable feat of summing up seven centuries of religious warfare in a crisp 309 pages of text."--Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World In t