Research Catalog

The race for paradise : an Islamic history of the crusades

Title
The race for paradise : an Islamic history of the crusades / Paul M. Cobb.
Author
Cobb, Paul M., 1967-
Publication
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2014]

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TextUse in library JFE 14-5941Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xxii, 335 pages : illustrations (some color); 25 cm
Summary
"In The Race for Paradise, Paul M. Cobb offers an accurate and accessible representation of the Islamic experience of the Crusades during the Middle Ages. Cobb overturns previous claims and presents new arguments, such as the idea that the Frankish invasions of the Near East were something of a side-show to the broader internal conflict between Sunnis and Shi'ites in the region. The Race for Paradise moves along two fronts as Cobb stresses that, for medieval Muslims, the contemporaneous Latin Christian expansion throughout the Mediterranean was seen as closely linked to events in the Levant. As a consequence of this expanded geographical range, the book takes a broader chronological range to encompass the campaigns of Spanish kings north of the Ebro and the Norman conquest of Sicily (beginning in 1060), well before Pope Urban II's famous call to the First Crusade in 1095. Finally, The Race for Paradise brilliantly combats the trend to portray the history of the Crusades, particularly the Islamic experience, in simplistic or binary terms. Muslims did not solely experience the Crusades as fanatical warriors or as helpless victims, Cobb writes; as with any other human experience of similar magnitude, the Crusades were experienced in a great variety of ways, ranging from heroic martyrdom, to collaboration, to utter indifference"--
Subject
  • Crusades
  • Islam > Relations > Christianity > History > To 1500
  • Christianity and other religions > Islam > History > To 1500
  • Muslims > Mediterranean Region > History > To 1500
  • HISTORY / Middle East / General
  • HISTORY / Medieval
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-321) and index.
Contents
Prologue: Damascus Crossroads -- The abode of Islam -- The frightened sea -- Prey of the sword -- Against the enemies of God -- Testing our might -- The fallen tent -- From every deep valley -- Wolves and lions -- Let them be our rulogists -- Epilogue: Buried horsemen.
Call Number
JFE 14-5941
ISBN
  • 9780199358113
  • 0199358117
LCCN
2013040040
OCLC
2013040040
Author
Cobb, Paul M., 1967-
Title
The race for paradise : an Islamic history of the crusades / Paul M. Cobb.
Publisher
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2014]
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-321) and index.
Research Call Number
JFE 14-5941
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