Holy Warriors Summary

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Jonathan Phillips is a well-respected historian and author whom in addition to writing the, Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades has published three books that reference the Crusades and medieval times. In 2005, the author worked as a consultant on the History Channel series The Crusades: The Crest and the Cross, and he has penned several journal articles and is an active participant in television and radio consultations and interviews regarding the Crusades. Furthermore, Phillips received a B.A. from the University of Keele in 1987, and his PhD. in 1992, from the Royal Holloway University of London. He is currently a professor of “Crusading History” at the aforementioned University of Royal Holloway. At the time of the publishing…show more content…
Phillips is diligent in ensuring that the historical data is accurate and is representative of both the Christian Crusaders and the Muslim Jihadists. The author expresses to the reader that each of the crusades took on a shape of their own, they were a series of complex events full of victories, defeats, religious, and personal animosities among the combatants. Phillips masterfully intertwines events that detail the diplomacy of the Papacy, European Kings and the Knightly classes. He introduces individual Islamic leaders as they rise in power and take control of their religious and political affairs in order to expel the infidels, and to install their personal brand of political and religious edicts throughout their realm. Phillips humbly leads the reader to his forgone conclusion, and at the end of his book, he demonstrates how political, religious, and economic crisis of the modern era are a direct result of the…show more content…
The Crusaders military and financial successes allowed for the establishment Christian Kingdoms throughout the Outremer. Yet in the end, the Crusaders were vanquished from the Near East. For two-hundred years, the crusades had little intrinsic impact on the Muslims. Lands once secured by the Crusaders were repeatedly lost to the Muslims. Furthermore, the author’s contention is that for all of the battles, deaths, and debauchery the author describes the West and those living within the Muslim world as seeing the Crusades as an act of fanatical aggression against the rise of Islam, thus leading too much of today’s political upheaval in the Middle East, and global tensions. Philipps utilizes a set a pattern in his writing style. Consistently, he begins with the Western perspective and the unfolding events that led to the call for a “Holy War” against the rise of Islam by the papacy. The Christian call to arms is followed by the Muslim response, then the subsequent battles, followed by the outcomes of each crusade. He does this for all seven of the Crusades. Through the entire book, the reader is able to enjoy and understand the descriptive tone in Phillips writing
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