Rating: 
Summary: Clearing out the fog
Review: Brilliant treatise on a subject important to the formation of European culture and therefore to American culture. The entire crusade movement is either vastly misunderstood or avoided by the western world. Madden clears away any notion of guilt for the American decendants of Europeans. Easily read and yet throughly researched and footnoted. A Consise History is exactly as advertised; concise, enlightening, entertaining, and understandable.
Rating:
Summary: A very un-PC look at history
Review: For those who have read books about the Crusades written by those who try to find some "balance" between the competing interests of current Middle East territory, this book is a refreshing look at what actually happened. While most of the globe has seen conquest of one form or another, and in some places, many times, this is one book that puts the Crusades in perspective. The Crusades were essentially an attempt to reestablish a Christian presence in the Levant after its conquest by the Islamic forces which swept across Northern Africa and the Middle East after the death of Mohammed. Madden gives us many interesting details of how the Crusades were beaten back by divisions within the Christian community of Europe just as much as they were beaten by the followers of Islam. One of the most intriguing issues is the treatment of how the pagan and Jewish communities were displaced initially by the followers of Christ through conversion to Christianity without force of arms, followed by armed invasions of Islamists who took possession of the area by way of the sword instead of by way of persuasion. The Crusades were essentially a movement to take back these formerly Christian enclaves the only way they could, through force of arms inasmuch as the Koran and its interpreters and enforcers prohibits any kind of freedom of religion as we know it in the West today. It is one of the reasons that there are no Christian churches allowed in Saudi Arabia today, where even observing a Christian service is prohibited. A fact which is always glossed over by Islamic apologists who misrepresent history today. This book has a lot of history, without the stridency of Trifkovic's "The Sword of the Prophet" which is an equally good, if not better, book.
Rating:
Summary: A very un-PC look at history
Review: For those who have read books about the Crusades written by those who try to find some "balance" between the competing interests of current Middle East territory, this book is a refreshing look at what actually happened. While most of the globe has seen conquest of one form or another, and in some places, many times, this is one book that puts the Crusades in perspective. The Crusades were essentially an attempt to reestablish a Christian presence in the Levant after its conquest by the Islamic forces which swept across Northern Africa and the Middle East after the death of Mohammed. Madden gives us many interesting details of how the Crusades were beaten back by divisions within the Christian community of Europe just as much as they were beaten by the followers of Islam. One of the most intriguing issues is the treatment of how the pagan and Jewish communities were displaced initially by the followers of Christ through conversion to Christianity without force of arms, followed by armed invasions of Islamists who took possession of the area by way of the sword instead of by way of persuasion. The Crusades were essentially a movement to take back these formerly Christian enclaves the only way they could, through force of arms inasmuch as the Koran and its interpreters and enforcers prohibits any kind of freedom of religion as we know it in the West today. It is one of the reasons that there are no Christian churches allowed in Saudi Arabia today, where even observing a Christian service is prohibited. A fact which is always glossed over by Islamic apologists who misrepresent history today. This book has a lot of history, without the stridency of Trifkovic's "The Sword of the Prophet" which is an equally good, if not better, book.
Rating:
Summary: Very informative
Review: Great book to read for anyone wanting to get a quick learn about the Crusades. This book is very exciting and very informative. Only one problem, Concise means Concise, don't expect to get too many details. But great for anyone wanting a starting point.
Rating:
Summary: Right On
Review: I really liked this book, and it it probably the best book on the Crusades I've ever seen or read. There's not much left for me to say, just look at the other reviews.
Rating: 
Summary: Feet wetting
Review: If you know nothing of the Crusades, this excellent little book will bring you up to speed. However, keep in mind that the Crusades span several hundred years, consisting of distinct (often disjoint) episodes of history, while this book spans fewer than 200 pages. As a result, most of the context and many of the details, which can be fascinating, are omitted. Enough remains to keep it interesting and sometimes entertaining.
If you are familiar with the Crusades, Madden provides an objective viewpoint and some (necessarily speculative) discussion of the economic and political forces that shaped them.
Rating:
Summary: CHRISTIANS ON JIHAD
Review: It seems all we hear about these days is fundamentalist Arabs blowing themselves up in the name of God or killing innocents or trying to eradicate the Jewish state. There was a time when Christians were just as crackpot. For example, look at the Inquisition, or the Salem witch trials, or even the whole David Koresh thing in recent times. Fortunately for the United States, secular powers have been in the forefront ever since our founding. The world wasn't always like this though. In medieval times, the most important thing in your life to fight for would be your faith. This history begins with a short history of Islam that sets the stage for the first Crusade. Around 1071, a group known as the Seljuk Turks was threatening Byzantium, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The emperor called on the Western European nations to come to his aid. After years of constant fighting with the Turks on their own, in 1096, the First Crusade left Europe which not only took the pressure off the Byzantines, but by luck and fighting captured most of the Holy Land from the Muslims. As any military man or woman knows, capturing territory is not always the hardest part. It's the holding of it that is difficult. The rest of the book chronicles the 500 year history of the Christian failures and successes of getting and then losing modern day Israel. This is a good general history of the Crusades which is exactly what it says on the cover. "Concise". It doesn't dwell on the minutiae of each and every emperor or king of the week. Instead it touches broadly on all aspects of the Crusades. I was almost completely ignorant on the subject and now I believe I could have an intelligent conversation about it. I found it informing that the original intent behind the Crusades was not one of pillaging. It stemmed from a sincere desire to fight in the name of Christ and to free his homeland. It was also about making a pilgrimage. To these knights, it was the highest honor to go on one of these Crusades. Many of the noblemen gave up their lands to raise money for the long trip. I was surprised that there was very little state support. Back in that time, the idea of a nation state was really an empty notion. I thought the book was almost perfect. It didn't linger on anything too long and never got boring. I would recommend it to any general reader as a good intro to the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking Post-Moderns Head-on
Review: Madden presents an excellent and objective case for the real foundations of the Crusades. The two Crusading pillars were, first, a military response to invading Muslims and, second, an overwhelming commitment to theological presuppositions. Medieval Europe was committed to a universal standard of truth. They really believed in souls eternally perishing or eternally flourishing. These ontological and epistemological underpinnings came to fruition in the defense of Europe known as the Crusades. Most of all, this book returns to the post-"post-modern" commitment to real, objective, and honest scholarship. Post-modernism perverts all that it touches, to include history. Madden addresses this perversion head on with accurate historical data that demolishes post-modernism's strangling of the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking Post-Moderns Head-on
Review: Madden presents an excellent and objective case for the real foundations of the Crusades. The two Crusading pillars were, first, a military response to invading Muslims and, second, an overwhelming commitment to theological presuppositions. Medieval Europe was committed to a universal standard of truth. They really believed in souls eternally perishing or eternally flourishing. These ontological and epistemological underpinnings came to fruition in the defense of Europe known as the Crusades. Most of all, this book returns to the post-"post-modern" commitment to real, objective, and honest scholarship. Post-modernism perverts all that it touches, to include history. Madden addresses this perversion head on with accurate historical data that demolishes post-modernism's strangling of the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is the "gripping narrative"?
Review: Others who have reviewed this book have found something I never did. I bought this book due to the rave reviews it has received. I won't go so far as to say the book was a disappointment for me, but I was expecting more. The back dust jacket praises Madden's "gripping narrative" but I couldn't find it.
This book is laden with names, places, dates and statistics, but gives very little in the way of content. What I mean by that is, I believe it is possible to editorialize with analytical descriptions of what took place without compromising the integrity of the event. When you read something like "Army A and Army B met on this date at this place. Army A was soundly defeated and lost X number of men." That leaves a lot of room for improvement and does little to hold the readers interest.
Perhaps I am wrongly making the assumption that most people have a fairly basic knowledge of what took place during the Crusades, but even without that knowledge, unless someone is a history addict like me, I think most people will have a hard time staying interested in this book.
Madden has certainly assembled a great deal of research and information, but I believe it could have been presented in a more readable and interesting manner. There have been countless volumes written on the history of the crusades, and I believe others have provided more meaningful and enjoyable presentations.
As far as I can find, the book is well researched and meticulously accurate, but the "gripping narrative" that I expected just isn't there.
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