Rating: 
Summary: Fact or Fiction?
Review: This is an interesting story, one which provides a tremendous opportunity for study. I was immediately caught off guard, however, by the lack of substantiation and obvious fabrication of material for the sake of story movement. Footnotes are not provided and Reston utilizes dialog as if writing a novel.If your expectation is to study an historical thesis, you will be sorely disappointed. This book should be viewed as historical fiction. I did give a second star because, as fiction, the book reads fairly well.
Rating: 
Summary: Detailed coverage of 3rd Crusade
Review: Over a span of two hundred years, the crusader movement unleashed terror and violence through the lands of the Middle East. The wars were fought in the name of religion and noble cause between the civilizations of Islam and Christianity. Pope Urban II of the Roman church to direct the energies of the warring European barons from their deadly disputes began the call for a quest to relinquish the holy land from the grips of Muslim. Of the five crusade wars fought only the first was successful for the west as they for a short period laid claim to Jerusalem, a revered city by both. On gaining control, the Christians made the streets of the city run ankle deep with the blood of Muslims and Jews as noted by a chronicle. The first crusade succeeded only because of a disunited Arab front. Of the five crusade only the third witnessed the largest military endeavor here the two brilliant generals Saladin and Richard faced one other, only to end with a disgraceful exit of Richard back to his homeland. Till this date Saladin remains an epic hero of the Islamic world. The emperor of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and Mesopotamia; the conqueror of Jerusalem; the unifier of the Arab world and the general who uprooted the invaders out of the Arab lands. It appears that the Muslim world awaits a general to the caliber of Saladin to recapture the holy land from the present day crusader (state of Israel). For the West Richard the lion heart has become the epitome of chivalry, the knight fighting bravely for his kingdom and his church with an axe, shield and his horse. He had a brilliant military mind and a fearsome general who understood the strategy and tactics in facing large well equipped armies. He is remembered for his bravado and chivalry. In words of Saladin
"But he is imprudent, not to say foolishly so, in thrusting himself so frequently into danger. He shows too great a recklessness of his own life. For my part, however large the territories are where I am king; I would rather have abundance of wealth with wisdom and moderation, than display immodesty valor and rashness" James Reston Jr. by scribing this journal has done a great service by detailing the events that occurred during the third crusade. He has maintained a very unbiased approach in his writing and has stuck with the facts alone. At times the details of this books are somewhat difficult to keep track of; but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A captivating narative of a fascinating historical event.
Review: If you are looking for a readable historical journal of the crusades, it doesn't get any better than this book. If you are looking for a historical research paper, with the reference section twice as long as the actual text, look elsewhere.
Reston does a wonderful job in narating the historical events in vivid detail. I really enjoyed the side stories; about the assassins, the early life of Richard and Phillip in southern France etc. His narration of various battles is very interesting, you almost live through the events as you read them. After reading this book I read a couple of other books (Amin Malouf etc.) to verify his facts. Reston tells the story as it happened, even though he injects dialogs and personal interpretations every now and then. But in my mind he never compromises the truthfulness of the "big picture".
Many reviewers are unhappy about Restons treatment of the subject, but to me it is obvious that the book is not an exhaustive historical manual. It is a easy reader on the third crusade, which preserves the actual events in their entirety, spiced by personality portraits and a few personal interjections of local culture. The homosexual inclination of Richard is not a made-up theory, many events of the time (Richards visit to the church in Greece on his way to Jerusalem, his personal life etc.) strongly support it. All respected historians acknowledge the humble and kind nature of Saladin. I also disagree that he portrays the two pivitol characters, Richard and Saladdin, as balck and white. While he admires Saladin for his character and morality, he is also very appreciative of Richards' bravery (facing the Muslim army alone in an ambush, and later riding his horse across enemy line challenging them). The only fictional additions are perhaps where he inserts dialogs etc., but I will accept those in the interest of preserving the readibility of the book.
Rating:
Summary: I read to be entertained
Review: Some of the other reviews posted here are extremely critical of the use of sources by the author. As a history graduate student, I know the importance and weight held by the use of good sources. However, I did not read 'Warriors of God' as part of any class I took, I read it because I was interested in the topic and wanted a good read. The Crusades are a fascinating topic with a host of characters that are equally as engaging, and the Third Crusade detailed in this work is no exception. Vivid descriptions of Saladin, Richard III, Eleanor of Aquitaine, King Philip of France, the siege of Acre, the taking of Jerusalem, as well as the Crusader castles and Islamic cities that dotted the Middle Eastern landscape in the 11th and 12th centuries, are fascinating. I couldn't care less what sources Mr. Reston used; I don't feel that flipping back and fourth in a book checking sources is necessary or fun when reading for entertainment. My one complaint for "Warriors of God" is that it could have used a little editorial "sprucing up"...occasionally there are sentences in there that aren't really sentences, or the language becomes murky and hard to understand. Other than that, though, I thought the book did read like a novel, and I mean that in a complimentary sense. If you happen to be a stickler for sources or are looking for cold hard facts on the Crusades, then perhaps this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking to be entertained and are interested in the time period, I highly recommend this book, regardless of it's sources.
Rating: 
Summary: Where does he get his information from?
Review: This book may be read as a novel. Nothing else. Not as a work of history. But I was really tired and too annoyed a short way into it. So many quotations appear without one single foot or end note. Are the quotations made up? Who is to say? Certainly they are English interpretations of French or Arabic ones (as English was not spoken by the protagonists of this story). Where are they taken from? Furthermore, how can one say that Eleanor of Aquitaine "felt" this way or that about her son and his actions without pointing to her memoirs (which do not exist as far as I know). To site the "recent" film with Hepburn and O'toole as any evidence of anything regarding Eleanor, Henry Plantagenet and their children is absurd; the film is a piece of fiction. Many works are thrown in the bibliography; some listed as "secondary." What exactly have the primary ones contributed? Certainly we could be given some concrete substantiation of the facts presented in this work. Is the absence notes further evidence of the "dumbing-down" of American culture? Did the editors think we would be "bored" by footnotes? I decided not to waste my time finishing the book. There are other more credible histories of the period and events.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly fascinating
Review: Terrific reading and a must-read to get a handle on current Mid-East conflicts and feelings. Full of interesting facts but presented in a very entertaining way.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing insights into the current world situation
Review: I was unable to put this book down. I've always been something of a medieval history buff, and am very fond of works by authors like Alison Weir. To be honest, when I had read that parts of this text were "novelized," I was a bit concerned. I have to say, though, that I found this book to be wonderfully well researched and above that, I found it to be a terrifically told tale. I had just begun reading this book before the events of Sept. 11th, and as I delved further and further into the text in the days that followed, I realized to my amazement that it was like reading yesterday's newspaper. So little has changed...we're still fighting the same war, still reaping the bitter harvest of enmities played out over hundreds of years now. The cast of characters has not even changed that much... It was fascinating to read about the cult-like Assassins who would commit suicide at the command of their mysterious leader, and who were feared by both Muslims and Christians because of their terrorist attacks and their tendency to destabilize situations for their own ends--a la Bin Laden and al-Q'aeda. The homosexual relationship between Richard and Philip Augustus is dealt with intelligently and sensitively, and the author makes a rather convincing case for the farreaching ramifications of their post-relationship bitterness. The only thing I would fault the author for is a tendency to romanticize Saladin's virtue and intelligence--almost to the point of rendering him as the sole "good guy" in the whole sorry mess... But the book is absolutely worth reading!
Rating:
Summary: Outrageously biased book about a fascinating topic
Review: The Crusades are certainly one of the most fascinating historical events in our time. Indeed Reston's book is full of interesting anecdotes and rich with engaging history. The material is all the more pertinent given the current conflict in the Middle East and recent terrorist attacks. Just the preface goes along way towards understanding the reason behind the current attacks and the Arab perspective on the Arab/Israeli conflict. However, unfortunately Reston's account is so one sided and black and white that it insults my intelligence. All of the Arabs are good, pious heroes confronting the evil, cruel greedy Christians. Though he never produces definitive evidence of his allegation, throughout the book Richard the Lion Hearted is called a homosexual with Reston implicitly discrediting his heroic reputation. Arab actions such as selling the captured Christians at Jerusalem into slavery are in fact portrayed as extremely humane. Saladin is portrayed in a unidimensional way as a humble and generous warrior. But the Christians such as one soldier who refuses when caputured to submit and convert to Islam is called a rogue and scoundrel. Only in a world of comic book characters, could this pass for realistic history. Reston perhaps being from the Judeo-Christian West felt that he was being brave and contrarian dispelling myths of Christian heroism. In fact, he was just writing more myths himself. One wonders whether this book was not sponsored by some Muslim hate group. In short, Reston's revisionist history is full of guilt and self-flagellation characteristic of our time and certainly full of its own biases that are quite shocking and transparent. Perhaps, Reston should just call himself the Saladin official court biographer.
Rating: 
Summary: Mr. Reston is no Barbara Touchman
Review: Mr. Reston is a more of a surveyor of history than a fine writer. The text of the book at best is serviceable but is frequently annoying. However, even Mr. Reston's spotty and sometimes chafing writing style cannot erase his interesting source material concerning the protagonists, Saladin and Richard. Nevertheless, Mr. Reston's writing style reminded me a red wine from Chile--it's red wine but, compared with the Napa or Bordeaux original, has an odd finish and is otherwise inferior. For example, in one passage concerning the exodus of "Christians" (i.e., the catchall term of unbelievers) from Jurusalem after the city fell to Saladin, Mr. Reston states that Saladin's Muslim guards caught "a fool . . . trying to slip his gold savings out in a wine gourd", without explaining Mr. Reston's unstated assumptions as to why this person's understandable motives are foolish. Also, references are made to "the pogroms in the Rhineland and in the Danube Valley" without further elaboration, which I found unsatisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Good History BUT Out of Context
Review: A good read. There are some things that the reader should be aware of. First, the author is correct. Saladin was a great man. That is a point too little stressed in traditional teachings of the Crusade. Second. There are other issues that helped "spark" the Crusade. For example, while the takeover of Jerusalem was without bloodshed in 638, it occurred as a result of military force, or what used to called in Arab Conquest. But the city still contained one of the holiest shrines for Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Finally, after many years of Muslem tolerance representing the high point of medieval rule, a new ruler's actions showed a "lack of sensitivity." Caliph Hakim ordered the Church's destruction in 1009. In an age of religious ideology, this certainly was not the smartest of actions. In sum, a good book but one needs to remember that both sides showed the complete range of human emotions, both good and bad....
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