Kind of dragged in the last third, but is definitely another outstanding work from Belloc. Very informative, very opinionated, very hard to disagree with. Belloc is a master.

Excellent study of the Crusading effort, from the Council of Clermont to the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. Mr. Belloc thoroughly explains what lead the Catholics of Europe to start on the First Crusade, and why the Crusading effort ultimately failed. As a n  veryn minor criticism, I wish he would have covered the remaining Crusades to the Holy Land (the Third through the Ninth).

The Crusades, by Hilaire Belloc, this book has all the benefits, and suffers all the problems of a book written in it's era. Belloc, an Anglo French writer, friend to G.K. Chesterton, has done very good research, and is unhampered by many of the biased and pre or miss conceptions of our age.
One will gain a better, and I say, a more correct, more scholarly view of the Crusades and those who participated, more inline with modern real scholarly work, and less like the popular view.
One should have a good Atlas or maps of the Aegean and Near East as well as a good dictionary at hand. Belloc dose write in the late Victorian style, so he can go off on to tangents, repeat himself and uses large words, and long passages, do not let this deter you. In the end, it a very good read.

The analysis still holds up today. Many indict Christianity over the Crusades. It, however, was a testament to western civilization.... the intent was anyway. I wonder what Hilaire would have thought about the events of the last 20 or so years.....

Exhilaratingly partisan analysis of the crusades.

Depressing

Belloc provides some much needed context to this narrative of the first crusade and the subsequent history of the Christian Crusader states. This has enhanced my understanding of the medieval world and the way it developed organically from the Roman world. Belloc also has some very strong opinions as to why the crusades ultimately failed, particularly the failure to take Damascus and the general lack of reinforcement from the west until it was too late. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to better understand this period in history.

Breve libro para conocer la historia de las primeras dos cruzadas: la conquista de Jerusalén (1099), el intento de conquista de Damasco (1148) y la pérdida de Jerusalén (1187). Belloc también propone –con su tono enfático– cuáles fueron los factores decisivos que llevaron al fracaso de las cruzadas (solamente la primera tuvo éxito) y su impacto en la historia posterior.

Este hombre que ha penetrado con singular preocupación en el pasado, nos muestra cómo las Cruzadas -con sus tribulaciones, penurias, pestes y derrotas y con sus victorias brillantes y sus conquistas heroicas- dejaron huellas imborrables en la historia religiosa del mundo y en las tierras por las que pasaron los hombres que "tomaron La Cruz".

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 12, as one of Ten Books by Hilaire Belloc Well Worth Reading.

In the wise words of Pete Hegseth’s forearm, “Deus Vult.”

I typically enjoy Belloc quite a bit, but this book was more of a military history / analysis of the battles between the Christian Crusaders and the Muslims- which isn’t really what I wanted to read. However, I did learn quite a bit about the culture of the time- I only wished I got more of that and less of a play by play of the numerous battles.