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Summary: History of the Templars or the Crusades?
Review: I bought this book on a whim, hoping to learn more about an interesting subject so often overlooked in history courses. My hopes weren't completely undermined, but I ended up learning much more about the Crusades than the Knights Templar. Understanding the need to provide background information to the Templars, I began reading expecting a brief history of Christendom prior to the founding of the Templar Knights. However, I never seemed to reach the part that talked exclusively about the Templars.Every few pages the order would be mentioned as part of a Crusading force or a little was told about their lifestyle, but the brunt of the book still focused on the events surrounding the Templars, rather than the order itself. The end of the book did deliver on its promise by thoroughly discussing the dissolution of the order and the various charges brought against it. These last few chapters made the book a worthwhile read. Also, for a nonfiction book about such an esoteric subject, it was a remarkably easy read. Most people with a little background of European history will have no problem wading through the book. For those who wish to learn more about the Crusades in general, and the Templars in particular should definately pick it up. However, don't expect to be deeply involved in Templar history until a while into the book.
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Summary: Title Misleading
Review: I picked up this book to read about the Templars and was disappointed. It covers the history of the crusades, lightly touches here and there on the Templars. Skims the trial and banking. This book should of been called "The Disjointed & Dense History of the Crusades". I am not saying it is a horrible book, but it has so many historical figures introduced every other page and then there is no reference of them again. It was very hard to follow who, what, and where. I remember while reading (about 1/3 of the way in) where is all the templar stuff? The title is misleading. If you want a good book on the Crusades then read The History of the Crusades (Vol 1 - 3). I am still looking for a good book on the Templars without all the New Age Alien stuff.
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Summary: Excellent work of history
Review: I've read this book twice, once while traveling the Holy Land and just again. I learned much in each instance and I recommend this book to anyone interested in a basic history of the Templars. The are surely other histories on the subject that are valuable, and for me it has provided both a great deal of knowledge and a desire to learn more of the Order.
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Summary: The Real Templars
Review: I have as a hobby been researching the various historical intrigues and conspiracies in which the Knights Templar are said to play a part. This book, the Templars, is not a book like this: it is a solid, historical work which does not indulge in any wild speculation, but instead works from the historical record. As such, it is a very good book; but poor Mr. Read will undoubtedly have his book quoted in the footnotes of every crackpot work of every conspiracy theorist from now until time immemorial. The book is a very solid history; at time Read does get mired in the details of the timeline of his story and its narrative suffers a little; part of the difficulty in any medieval history is piecing together a history from very dry records, which is what Read is working with. The book contains a few pictures of the Templar castles which still exist as ruins in the Middle East; and gives a detailed account of the heresy trials instigated against them by Philip IV of France. The book is sympathetic to the Templars because the historical record is sympathetic -- the Templars did not confess to any wrongdoing except where torture was liberally applied to them. It also details the military misfortunes into which the Templars blundered -- they were knights errant in the worst sense of the word. A good book; a bit dry at times, but an excellent work of medieval history, especially considering the lack of engaging source material for a historian to work with.
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Summary: A Journey into Medieval History
Review: This is one of the best research I ever read about the Templars because this book is not just the history of the Templars but also the history of the Crusades and everything that surrounded them during that part of the Middle Age. The first part: "The Temple", the author give us an explanation about the motives of the foundation of the order, the second part: "The Templars", the objectives of the order, way of life and discipline of the monk-soldiers, banking practices, rivalry with other orders, main battles, important persons and conflict between the Pope and the King Philip VI of France against the Templars, the third part: "The Fall of the Templars" the consequences of the elimination of the order and the motives. An excellent reading to know a little more about the Order of the Temple and their time.
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Summary: A serious history of the Templars and the crusades
Review: This is a first class, thoroughly researched, brilliantly written text, and a serious, objective history of the Knights Templar and the era of the crusades. I recommend this book to anyone with a serious commitment to learning about the Templars or an interest in this period of history. The Templars is profoundly intellectual, and rich in facts and detail which make this a challenging read. The book is often very heavy-going, but the reader's perseverance is rewarded with a high-standard of information and high-quality written English. Much of the mystery and intrigue of the Knights Templar is beyond the scope of such a serious book, but when considering any of these topics the reader is sure to benefit from the abundance of textbook-level information provided in The Templars. It is worth spending the time and effort to better understand this important and interesting chapter of human history that has exerted a major influence on the development of contemporary civilisation. The repercussions of these events reverberate strongly in world events to this day - perhaps more deeply than most people appreciate...
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Summary: If you have trouble sleeping...
Review: Among so much junk written about the Templars I thought this book would make sense. Unfortunately it is so dense that I could not read more than 2 pages without falling asleep. I barely managed to reach the end.
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Summary: Probably too detailed
Review: I was exicted to read this, as it promised to be a detailed and engrossing history of this oft-misunderstood organization. However, it reads more like the Book of Genesis: This king was cousins to that king who knew this knight who married that queen who killed this prince whose brother was a monk in this order who served under this bishop who later became that Pope. Call me ignorant, or maybe a victim of a Jerry Bruckheimer culture, but I think some of the "accuracy" could have been sacrificed in the name of narrative. I lost track of the various figures, many of whom had the same name.
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Summary: Wasn't this supposed to be about the Templars?
Review: If I wanted to read about the crusades, there are 100 other better books. Very basic, nothing earthshaking, nothing ground breaking, just a rehash of the same old story. Very blah.
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Summary: Sympathetic synopsis of Templar history....
Review: THE TEMPLARS by Piers Paul Read provides an excellent condensed version of the Templar story-how they evolved from a group charged with protecting Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land into a very powerful order that was eventually crushed by Philip the Fair (complexion, not ethics) of France. Read covers the highlights of the Crusader monks' tale including: 1) the story of Richard the Lion Hearted who rode with them and was so admired by his rival the Kurdish leader Saladin that when his horse was killed during a battle Saladin sent him two more horses; 2) Frederick II who formed friendships with the Muslims Rome condemned; and St Louis went on Crusade with his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine at his side (the wife of Henry II after Louis divorced her, and mother of Richard I). Eleanor seems to have been very 'naughty' with the knights in Outremer. Read is a fiction writer whose works include the book ALIVE. Although THE TEMPLARS is not an academic wor, Read provides competent footnotes and a good bibliography, and he has condensed an enormous amount of academic material and make it accessible to the lay reader. Read's perspective is sympathetic to the Templars, but I do not think he has presented a biased tale. Most historians agree the Templars were unjustly treated by Philip the Fair and Clement V. Many people also agree the Christians had a right to fight a 'just war' and take back by force land that had been Christian for over a half a millennium before it fell to Islam (think of the Allies retaking France in WWII). Using both Islamic and Christian sources, Read shows the Muslim 'enemy' was composed of many different groups (Turk, Kurd, Mameluke, Mongol, etc.) who fought with each other for control of 'Outremer' as much as they fought their common enemy the Christians. Eventually, however, because of the internecine struggles of the Christian factions, the Muslims successfully discharged the Christians from the Holy Land. The really tragic aspect of the Crusader tale is that Christians inflicted more damage on each other (Cathars, Byzantines, Hungarians, etc.) than their enemy. Philip the Fair's treatment of the Templars was the most despicable act of all.
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