THE EPIC OF THE CRUSADES

by Rene Grousset ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 29, 1969

M. Grousset's work is that oddity, a popularization with a thesis. It puts forth the view that the Crusades represented a conscious attempt by the medieval Papacy to add the Holy Land to the temporal domain of the popes. When the book was first published (1939), that thesis was neither new nor widely accepted. It is even less so now, and Grousset's efforts have been superseded by a more balanced view, one which puts the Crusades into their proper perspective as one manifestation of the perennial struggle between the medieval Empire and the Papacy for the domination of Europe. The book has other faults which, though venial in themselves, in the aggregate--and particularly in a field where so many extraordinarily competent work have appeared since 1939--appear mortal. It has not the depth, breadth, and perspective of Runciman's Work; not the spirited approach of Treece's; not even the interpretive spirit of Oldenbourg's or the sympathetic iconoclasm of Duggan's. In style--or at least in translation-it seems overly rhetorical, dull, and old-fashioned, and in treatment it fails almost completely to capitalize on the drama inherent in the medieval situation (in the clash, for example, between the imperious Gregory IX and the equally imperious Frederick II), One can only conclude that The Epic of the Crusades is too little and much, much too late.

Pub Date: Jan. 29, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Grossman-Orion

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION