I was supposed to be teaching a module on the #Crusades for @Cambridge_ISP this summer. It's been cancelled, of course, but I'd already bought some new books! Hoping to find time to read them - this will be a gradual thread about my favourites.

Having not studied the subject for almost 20 years, I asked for help from #MedievalTwitter and got some great recommendations from a range of #twitterstorians: https://twitter.com/Seb_Falk/status/1207444689202417664

My starting point was "The Crusades: An Epitome" by @DrSThroop. I was hoping this would be a good first item on my student reading list, & I wasn't disappointed! 185 pithy pages, not a word wasted - & it's free to read online! (but you'll want to buy it). https://kismet.press/portfolio/the-crusades/

I was particularly impressed by how @DrSThroop kept a strong narrative thread with all the basic "need-to-know" facts, while somehow also managing to hit the main historiographical issues (with accessible further reading after each chapter for those wanting more).

After a break for Hilary Mantel's French Revolutionary epic & my wife's favourite @MarianKeyes, I'm now back on the road to Jerusalem with @JCRHistorian's "Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse" ( @BasicBooks). I've not got far, but it's a cracking read!