Victory in the East : A Military History of the First Crusade

Rating:
Summary: Not just military history, but lucid exposition
Review: I first encountered this book at the Byzantine Center at Dumbarton Oaks. Six pages into it, I realized I had to own it. It is not just an invaluable account of a complicated time, but a superb military history, as effective to the novice as to the expert.

Dr. French shows himself to have a gift for explaining strategy and tactics clearly and for setting them within a context of politics (war by other means, if I may invert Clausewitz's dictum) and religion.

His diagrams are easy to understand, and his exposition of the siege of Antioch makes it readily comprehensible.

A very valuable work for the specialist, scholar, writer, or serious reader.

Rating:
Summary: Not just military history, but lucid exposition
Review: I first encountered this book at the Byzantine Center at Dumbarton Oaks. Six pages into it, I realized I had to own it. It is not just an invaluable account of a complicated time, but a superb military history, as effective to the novice as to the expert.

Dr. French shows himself to have a gift for explaining strategy and tactics clearly and for setting them within a context of politics (war by other means, if I may invert Clausewitz's dictum) and religion.

His diagrams are easy to understand, and his exposition of the siege of Antioch makes it readily comprehensible.

A very valuable work for the specialist, scholar, writer, or serious reader.

Rating:
Summary: as good as it gets
Review: I was prompted to say something about this book after viewing various reader lists concerning the crusades and medieval war and finding this title absent; omissions due to ignorance, surely. Victory in the East is, simply, the best book on the First Crusade that you are likely to ever read. Trust me.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting and innovative
Review: This step by step account of the first crusade by John France is an excellent piece of military history dealing with a complicated subject which can be explored from many different angles. Truly, the innovation of this book is looking at the crusade as a single campaign consisting of aspects like supplies, different possible marching routs, pitched battles as well as smaller expeditions, economy, alliances and much more. John France's writing is remarkable. I can recall many nights at which I simply couldn't let go of the book and often had to read until the end of the chapter just to know what happened to the crusader army. The battle descriptions are very interesting (especially if you have an understanding of the period's way of waging war) and together with the illustrations make for a complete understanding of the situation.

If you are looking for an exciting book about history - this is it !

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Valuable Account from Military Perspective
Review: While this is certainly one of the best and most accurate works written about the First Crusade, I am unsure I can go so far as to agree with the previous reviewer that it is the best. It is certainly thorough: the author has visited many of the sites and, where possible, reconstructed the battles in situ. While dedicated to a military perspective, he incorporates many elements, such as the religious and political antecedents, that provide the background necessary to any meaningful understanding of the crusaders' march into Syria and Palestine. As the author has made the effort to include many of the primary sources that to date remain untranslated, the Crusade chroniclers' accounts are more fully represented, allowing both the author and the reader to arrive at conclusions based upon a greater comparison and analysis of contemporary sources than is present in many other texts. Further, this is the first work I have come across that points out the significance of contribution made by Byzantine naval support, at least up to and including the seige of Antioch.

As a military history this work is outstanding, marred only by the author's at times inelegant and unclear sentence structure. For some, this work may be long on military tactics. Also, the casual reader should be aware that this is primarily a military history, and does not consider comprehensively all the religious and political events that led up and in part inform the First Crusade.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Valuable Account from Military Perspective
Review: While this is certainly one of the best and most accurate works written about the First Crusade, I am unsure I can go so far as to agree with the previous reviewer that it is the best. It is certainly thorough: the author has visited many of the sites and, where possible, reconstructed the battles in situ. While dedicated to a military perspective, he incorporates many elements, such as the religious and political antecedents, that provide the background necessary to any meaningful understanding of the crusaders' march into Syria and Palestine. As the author has made the effort to include many of the primary sources that to date remain untranslated, the Crusade chroniclers' accounts are more fully represented, allowing both the author and the reader to arrive at conclusions based upon a greater comparison and analysis of contemporary sources than is present in many other texts. Further, this is the first work I have come across that points out the significance of contribution made by Byzantine naval support, at least up to and including the seige of Antioch.

As a military history this work is outstanding, marred only by the author's at times inelegant and unclear sentence structure. For some, this work may be long on military tactics. Also, the casual reader should be aware that this is primarily a military history, and does not consider comprehensively all the religious and political events that led up and in part inform the First Crusade.