Contesting the Crusades /

This first installment of Blackwell's "Contesting the Past" series is an impressive showing. Although well short of 200 pages, the monograph is well written and dense with information. Tackling the historiography of the Crusades, Housley (Univ. of Leicester) touches upon the prominent schools of thought on the definition of what constitutes a crusade, as well as upon the historians who provide the bases of present interpretations of the buildup, implementation, and consequences of the Crusades. Though Housley covers all the various crusading movements, he pays special attention to the First Crusade, through crusading in the 13th century. His analysis extends to studies of the motivations and intentions of the prominent and not so prominent participants of the movements. The author provides an excellent up-to-date survey of Crusade studies, and even offers suggestions for further investigation. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. An excellent resource for graduate students and faculty. M. M. Johnson Lynn University