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10 Works 160 Membros 5 Reviews

Obras de Nicholas Morton

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Data de nascimento
1980
Sexo
male
País (para mapa)
United Kingdom
Locais de residência
Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Membros

Resenhas

July 23 The growth of tribal societies into something bigger. Military technology, finance, religion, language, crusades
 
Marcado
BJMacauley | 1 outra resenha | Jul 7, 2023 |
This work is a comprehensive tale of the empires of the Middle East before, during and after the advent of the Mongols. It deals largely with the Mongols who reached the Middle East, with little other than background about groups to the east and north except as the interacted with those invading Anatolia, Syria and surrounding areas. This is history told mainly in terms of battles lost and won, changes in dynasties and borders, diplomacy and civil wars. It contains little about the mode of life of the Mongols other than that they were nomads, their beliefs other than that they believed they were fated to conquer the world. Of their long-term effect on history we learn mainly that they made Europeans aware of how large and rich Eurasia was, created the conditions for Turkish rule and contributed to the downfall of the Crusader states in Palestine.… (mais)
 
Marcado
ritaer | 1 outra resenha | May 5, 2023 |
Where the author provides a signal service is to put the contingency back into the Frankish period of Middle Eastern history, when a relatively small band of European soldiers (with local help), with a unique military system (the premier heavy shock cavalry of the time), could box above their weight. The question becomes why could the Franks never quite close the deal by taking the major city (Aleppo, Damascus or Cairo) that might have allowed them to settle down for the long haul. At the end of the day it may simply boil down to how Muslim leaders such as Nur al-Din, Zangi or Saladin were always better equipped to play a more subtle political game with these cities, where only total military victory (which even the Frankish leaders seemed to realize was a low probability event) was the sole viable option for the Crusader states.

Morton chooses to end on the note that while some have tried to draw links between the intervention of the Crusaders, and the current violence in Syria, the reality is that the contemporary disaster owes more to the sorry modern traditions of "total war," than the limited outcomes that these Medieval contenders for power were fighting for.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Shrike58 | 1 outra resenha | Dec 12, 2020 |
The Field of Blood is a thesis book as such focuses on certain events and people, it is specialized, but easy to read. Making the case that while we tend to view the Crusader States as doomed follies, they actually came close to succeeding. Why not? Morton says the tide broke at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis in 1119, the high-water mark of Crusader expansion. Reasons for this are "contingent", but generally the Middle East at this time was highly populated with Morton recalling a case where a crusader army stormed a large city, breached the walls and charged inside only to disappear into the warrens never to be seen again. They were too few in number and the Frank's tactical fighting advantage, the heavy horse cavalry charge, was limited to open flat places. Morton also makes some excellent points generally - that the Crusades were not a culture clash between Christianity and Islam as traditionally told, being more complex and interesting with alliances between Christians and Muslims against common enemies and inter-Christian and inter-Muslim fighting. The interchange of customs and ideas. He is also a very good writer, the journey from Anatolia to Egypt on the wings of a goose was really memorable. This is an excellent book for what it is.… (mais)
3 vote
Marcado
Stbalbach | 1 outra resenha | Nov 13, 2019 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
10
Membros
160
Popularidade
#131,702
Avaliação
3.9
Resenhas
5
ISBNs
31
Idiomas
1

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