You have no items in your shopping cart.
Close
Search

Saladin

Empire and Holy War


Saladin, the great twelfth century Middle East leader, not only created an empire, but also reduced the Crusader presence in the Holy Land. In a comprehensive manner and clear prose, Peter Gubser describes how Saladin rose to power, conquered lands, governed peoples, and raised armies. In addition, he clearly addresses Saladin’s imperial motives, a combination of ambition and devotion to the ideal of unity in Islam.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-60724-669-5
  • *
Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Apr 15,2010
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 467
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-60724-669-5
$198.00 (USD)
Please select the address you want to ship to
Ship to
*
*
Shipping Method
Name
Estimated Delivery
Price
No shipping options

Saladin, the great Muslim leader of the twelfth century, generated far-reaching change in the Middle East. During his life, he profoundly altered the region’s landscape in religious, political, geographic and ethnic terms. In the West, he is famous for sharply curtailing the Crusader presence in the region, but also for the chivalrous and honorable way he dealt with adversaries and neighbors. In Muslim lands, he is well known – even lionized – for his success vis-à-vis the Crusaders.

Saladin’s achievements in other spheres also notably influenced the course of Middle East history. First, by eliminating Fatimid rule in Egypt as he built his own Ayyubid Empire, he deracinated Shia Islam from that important part of the region. Second, Saladin built a new empire from Egypt, North Africa, and Yemen to the Levant, Syria, Iraq and parts of Anatolia. Third, the Seljuk Turks had ruled large sections of the Middle East. With the ascendancy of Saladin, who was of Kurdish heritage, the role of the Seljuk Turks declined, to be replaced by a more varied group – Kurds, Arabs, Turks, and others – but with a unifying Muslim identity.

The portrait that emerges is that of a complex, humane but hardly sentimental warrior-king with both great talents and inherent flaws, one whose rightful place in history may be closer to conquerors who also built, like Alexander the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte, than to those like Genghis Khan, who merely conquered.

Saladin, the great Muslim leader of the twelfth century, generated far-reaching change in the Middle East. During his life, he profoundly altered the region’s landscape in religious, political, geographic and ethnic terms. In the West, he is famous for sharply curtailing the Crusader presence in the region, but also for the chivalrous and honorable way he dealt with adversaries and neighbors. In Muslim lands, he is well known – even lionized – for his success vis-à-vis the Crusaders.

Saladin’s achievements in other spheres also notably influenced the course of Middle East history. First, by eliminating Fatimid rule in Egypt as he built his own Ayyubid Empire, he deracinated Shia Islam from that important part of the region. Second, Saladin built a new empire from Egypt, North Africa, and Yemen to the Levant, Syria, Iraq and parts of Anatolia. Third, the Seljuk Turks had ruled large sections of the Middle East. With the ascendancy of Saladin, who was of Kurdish heritage, the role of the Seljuk Turks declined, to be replaced by a more varied group – Kurds, Arabs, Turks, and others – but with a unifying Muslim identity.

The portrait that emerges is that of a complex, humane but hardly sentimental warrior-king with both great talents and inherent flaws, one whose rightful place in history may be closer to conquerors who also built, like Alexander the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte, than to those like Genghis Khan, who merely conquered.

Customers who bought this item also bought
Picture of Grammar of Modern Syriac Language as Spoken in Urmia, Persia, and Kurdistan

Grammar of Modern Syriac Language as Spoken in Urmia, Persia, and Kurdistan

A detailed grammar, with extensive vocabulary, of the Neo-Aramaic dialect as spoken in Urmia, by a missionary of the American Board in Persia.
$132.00 (USD)
Picture of  Christian - Queen - Myth of Love

Christian - Queen - Myth of Love

Shirin, the beloved wife of the Persian shah, Chosroes II (b. 628), pulled political strings behind the scenes and supported the Christian minority in Iran.
$64.00 (USD)
Picture of Painting in Islam, A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim Culture

Painting in Islam, A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim Culture

Indicates the place of painting in the Islamic world, both in relation to those theological circles which condemned the practice of it, and to those persons who, disregarding the prohibitions of religion, consulted their own taste in encouraging it.
$98.00 (USD)
Picture of A Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This collection of Oriental manuscripts was presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in March, 1913, by Mr. Alexander Smith Cochran. All of the codices, handsomely illuminated and adorned with beautiful miniatures, will be of interest to students of art, literature, and history.
$143.00 (USD)