Oxford historian Christopher Tyerman's The World of the Crusades: An Illustrated History offers an affordable, accessible, superbly written, and well laid out tour of the broader crusading movement. Either a student, new to the study of the Crusades, or a scholar, well versed in its debates, will find this a valuable work offering the benefits of a narrative history, a summation of the key issues in current crusades scholarship, and even some useful elements of a reference work.

Organizationally, The World of the Crusades offers the same broad sweep of crusading history found in other works traditionally used as textbooks in crusades courses. It covers, among other things, the crusading movement from its inception in the late eleventh century, its high point from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, and the survival of some elements of crusading ideology lasting into later centuries. Yet Tyerman's work offers not only an updated consideration of matters related to crusading but far more detail (whereas most traditional textbooks used in crusades courses number between 250 to 350 pages, The World of the Crusades comes in at over 500 pages).

One significant addition in Tyerman's work is the inclusion of 39 short sections (“The Crusades in Detail”) highlighting particular aspects of the Crusades and bringing them into a detailed focus for the reader in a way that is more typically found in reference works (they remind me of the type of short essay one finds in encyclopedias). Yet they are well blended into the chapters and work well with the broader narrative and layout of the book. Examples include “Women and the Crusades,” “Food and Drink,” “Medicine,” and many other similarly interesting sidebars that illuminate topics not always given much focused consideration in other histories of the Crusades. The section on “Food and Drink,” for example, offers roughly two and a half pages on the topic, emphasizing how the availability of food influenced commanders’ decisions on the routes the crusaders took, their negotiations with allies, the discipline of troops during siege warfare or on the battlefield, and sometimes reflected the ordering of social or class relations.

The World of the Crusades is subtitled, fittingly, An Illustrated History due to the 161 illustrations provided throughout the work, ranging from modern photographs of surviving architectural structures (e.g., Church of the Holy Sepulcher) to images taken from medieval illuminated manuscripts. The fact that they are reproduced almost entirely in color demonstrates the publisher's (Yale University Press) commitment to producing an attractive volume. The work also includes 17 helpful maps primarily focusing on the Crusades to the East, but also on crusading efforts in the Baltic, the Iberian Peninsula, against heretics or political opponents in Europe, and in later efforts against the Ottomans.

As always, his prose is also masterful as few historians seem to be able to turn a phrase like Tyerman does. His efforts here (or generally elsewhere) are not dry, boring, or so highbrow that it is inaccessible to most readers, which is a charge sometimes made against other academic writers. To the contrary, regardless of the sophistication of Tyerman's writing, the work should be accessible and engaging to university students or interested lay readers who are new to the topic.

Tyerman's scholarship and use of the sources is superb, but this is to be expected from a historian who is seen by many as perhaps the most important living scholar of the Crusades since the death of Riley-Smith in 2016. The overview of the Crusades provided by Tyerman weaves together many complex (but essential) elements of the Crusades into a coherent narrative. This is no small feat for a movement that spanned several centuries, took place on multiple continents or regions, and involved peoples of many faiths and nationalities. He provides a good sense of the philosophical or ideological justifications for the birth of the crusading movement, responses to it, its religious enthusiasm and motivations, the importance of economic and political considerations, the nature and background of its participants, its institutional evolution in the twelfth and thirteen centuries (and beyond), the later crusading movement, and its elements that survived into the modern era. He wraps the work up by considering how modern understandings and misunderstandings of the Crusades influence our present world and, in the final chapter, addresses the question of whether the Crusades still matter (they do). Such an effort necessitates a deep and profound knowledge of the crusading movement. Fortunately, for the reader, there are few, if any, as well suited to the task as Tyerman.

My initial thought upon reading the work, and considering its modest price as well (hardcover currently at only $31.49), was that it would be very useful as a textbook in undergraduate courses on the Crusades. Because it is half the size of his 2006 work God's War: A New History of the Crusades, a monumental single volume history of the Crusades coming in at over 1,000 pages, The World of the Crusades would be more manageable as an undergraduate textbook and yet more substantive than many other smaller works commonly used as a textbook in crusades courses.

In sum, I have no significant criticisms of the work. Perhaps others will prefer a simpler and more concise narrative, without the sidebars and other enhancements. Yet I found this to be a wonderful book on an important topic and one of my favorites by Tyerman. It is unique in conception and design, and nearly as entertaining as it is informative and thought provoking.