[LS]

Two things: first, as a historian who is not a specialist in this area, I have come from a search committee in which we had to hire a specialist in the Medieval period, and every candidate gave his or her "intro" lecture on the Crusades, so it proved very informative, not the least of which was to get an assessment of the latest scholarship. It is as the author says.

Second, prior to that committee, I had begun reading the massive "God's War," which is an excellent and incredibly detailed history of the Crusades. I highly recommend it, but it is tough sledding.

However, I did find that in his assessment of the post-crusading period, the author neglected to mention the siege of Malta, wherein Sulieman (not personally, but his forces) attacked the 10,000 or so Knights Hospitalers on the island with 100,000 soldiers and sailors . . . and lost. It was one of the most remarkable defenses in human history. His generals wasted more than 20,000 men, or perhaps 1/3 of their land forces, on tiny Fort St. Elmo before even assaulting the two larger forts. That, the failed siege of Vienna, and the Christian naval victory at Lepanto turned the tide and saved Europe from total occupation in my view.

[Biggirl]

The writer:

http://www.thomasmadden.org/

[Yollopoliuhqui]

>>However, I did find that in his assessment of the post-crusading period, the author neglected to mention the siege of Malta

You must read Tim Willocks “The Religion”, a beautifully written historic novel about the Turkish siege of Malta.

[Gritty]

Here is a great book on the Siege of Malta. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down, and neither could others I have lent it to. The courage and skill of these vastly outnumbered Christian knights and soldiers is breathtaking.

The Great Siege: Malta 1565