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Summary: Incorrect history
Review: Dungeon, Fire and Sword is an excellent read, especially if you want a deeper knowledge of how and why in the crusader years. Unfortuantly the author fancy himself more of a writer than a historian and therefore sometimes transform events into being, perhaps not totally in response to the historical facts. But if you already know a bit about history, you can sort this out, and then you have a well written, very informative book on a sometimes dry subject. I learned alot, but from what I already know, I also know enough to know that what I learned may not be entirely correct. But a good read non the less.
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Summary: One of the best history books I have ever read.
Review: Fact is stranger than fiction. This incredible telling of the stories of the crusades and the Knights Templar will go down as one of the best history books I have ever read .
It's a great read cover to cover. An absoltuely fascinating account of not only the Knights Templar but of the crusades in general.
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Summary: Great narratives a different way to look history.
Review: Good work to put in place ideas and facts. I was in curiosity to read more out of other figures in the book.
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Summary: Captivating and Exciting Literature !
Review: I absolutely could not put this book down! I'd read Robinson's "Born in Blood" a few times and was craving more.... Then, I found "Dungeon, Fire and Sword" at a local bookstore (before my girlfriend introduced me to Amazon.com). I Devoured the book. I could not stop reading, but I did not want it to end. When I finished the book, I wanted MORE John J. Robinson and--luckily--my girlfriend had purchased "A Pilgrim's Path" for me, via Amazon.com....it came in the mail, as a surprise! I finished that one in two sittings..... John J Robinson is an excellent writer. I admire him, greatly.
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Summary: A Must Read For Christians and Jews
Review: I believe this book should be read by all Christians and Jews, as it explains much of the acrimony between Denominations, and between all 3 JudeoChristian Faiths. Robertson is not a Theologian, so his approach is to try to apply History. He is not "Redactionist", rather lays out the blunt and unattractive truth of the Church, Crusades, and leaves the reader with a better understanding of his or her faith.
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Summary: Fascinating and illuminating book
Review: I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It provides a detailed history of all the Crusades as well as the Templar's part in each of them. What I found most interesting in the book were all the political details. It becomes apparent at many points that if the Christian invaders of the Middle East had been organized together rather than engaging in constant infighting they would have been able to hold onto their teritory much longer.Another nice feature of the book is the amount of time spent on the original inhabitants of the Middle East and later in the book on the Mongol invaders. The author does not evince any sort of bias and treat each group equally in his assessment, pointing out both their honorable and despicable deeds. I would reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in history, warfare, or secret societies, although the secret society aspect it downplayed here.
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Summary: Very interesting history.
Review: I have long been interested in the Crusades and the Knights Templar. This book provided considerable information on both. The apparent focus of the book is on the Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonis (Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon), a.k.a. The Knights of the Temple or the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar, however, were a product of the time and the situation. For that reason the author spent considerable time discussing that environment. If you are only interested in the Knights Templar, you will probably be disappointed in this book because it also discusses much of the history of the period and how the author believes that history affected the order. As one reviewer mentioned, the author does seem to be somewhat anti-Roman Catholicism and does not portray the Church, or many of its leaders, in a particularly positive light. I do not believe that impairs the effectiveness of the book. Overall, I believe that the book is well written and would be of interest to anyone that shares an interest in the crusades or the militant orders of history.
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Summary: One Great Masonic Book
Review: I have read Born in Blood and Pilgrams Path and both books were very informative to me. Born in Blood answered a lot of questions and I have been a mason for almost 20 years.
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Summary: Amazing, well written history that reads like a modern epic
Review: I loved this book. The language is modern with dabs of off-the-cuff humor to keep the story interesting. I first found it in my school library and I enjoyed it so much I bought it for my collection at home
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Summary: Covers a lot more than just the Templars . . . . .
Review: I really really like this book and have recommended it to a couple of other friends who also read about history. It gives a good background to the Knights Templar and to the time period during which they existed. It is organized chronologically, starting with the First Crusade and ending after the disbanding of the order in the 1300's. Professional historians or people who have made studying the Templars or the Crusades their life's work will probably find things to criticize. But as an amateur history buff, I thought the book was great.
In order to explain what went on around the Templars and the effects of their actions, Robinson spends a lot of time explaining why the world was the way it was during that time period, so there is a LOT of discussion of politics. Politics within the Catholic church, between the Catholic church and the Orthodox church, between European monarchs, between European monarchs and the Christian churches, between Italian states, between the European leaders and Moslem leaders, between different Moslem leaders, between different Moslem factions, and even political differences between militant religious orders (the Templars and the Hospitallers and later including the Teutonic order) all play a part in this book, which should give the reader of this review some idea of just how complicated the story can get. So if you are looking for a book that is ONLY about the Templars and goes into great great detail about JUST the Templars, this is not the book.
Grandmasters are mentioned by name and by history/character/actions when appropriate, but other members are not dwelled upon unless they directly had an effect on the order or the crusading kingdoms.
Also, conspiracy theories about the Templars secretly ruling the world and theories about Biblical wonders excavated by the Templars under the Temple of Solomon are not discussed in this book.
Finally, be warned that this part of history is pretty bloody and no one comes off looking very good, so anyone who won't tolerate hearing unpleasant things about historical figures or institutions shouldn't read this book.
I originally picked up this book because I knew a person who talked up the Templars a lot and I wanted to get a little more background. After reading the book, I have come the conclusion that the Templars may have done some great things (they were one of the first knightly organizations that had anything resembling battlefield discipline, they developed what was essentially a banking system that was used by powerful people who had to trade a lot of cash but didn't want to risk packing bags and bags of gold and silver, and because they had to deal with Moslems so much they set aside places in their buildings for a Muslim to say the daily prayers to Mecca, all of these were radical innovations for their time), they also had a history of backing the biggest blowhard or jerk in any argument time after time.
As a whole, knights of that period come off as a bunch of adolescent idiots who would attack a group ten times their number, try to ride through a blazing desert without water, or compromise a whole battle plan rather than have anyone call them a coward or risk the possibility that someone might get more glory than them.
The Catholic church does not come off well at all, the clerics in individual churches were probably well-intentioned but the higher tiers were corrupt, greedy and influential to an extent that is almost unimaginable today (as a sidenote, I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed David Eddings' Elenium trilogy).
Finally, after reading about the Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople, I have no wish to ever visit Venice.
Robinson does not footnote his work, which is sometimes frustrating. This and the occasional slowness because of all the detail are the only reasons I give the book four stars and not five.
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