LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THE CRUSADES; A HISTORY BY JONATHAN RILEY SMITH A CRITICAL BOOK REVIEW SUBMITTED TO DR. GREGORY TOMLIN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR CHHI 520 DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH HISTORY BY ????????????????????????? LYNCHBURG, VA 28 NOVEMBER 2008 For a comprehensive political, religious and administrative history of The Crusades, readers need look no further than Jonathan Riley-Smith’s second edition of The Crusades; A History. A professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Cambridge, Jonathan Riley-Smith is the author of many books on the Crusades such as What Were the Crusades? (2002), The First Crusades and the Idea of Crusading (1986), The First Crusaders (1997), and others covering the history of the Middle Ages. His 2005 edition of The Crusades; A History, provides a content heavy and updated look at each Crusade and the historical context in which each occurred. This manuscript is excellent for anyone who does not have a beginning base of knowledge of history or the Crusades. It also comprehensive enough that readers who are well versed in history and advanced in the knowledge of the Crusades will still be challenged by the rich text and updated research provided. By using all available current research, Mr. Smith has provided his audience with a compilation of all three Crusades that is reliable and useful for teaching and learning. A strength of this book is the inclusion of significant introductory material in the form of nine maps prior to the preface and introduction that aid the novice history reader in gaining geographical perspective to the text; the preface which explains the purpose of the second edition and an overview of the updates involved, and a six page introduction that gives a snapshot of the historical context in which the opening of the Crusades began. In the opening pages and the first chapter of the book, Riley-Smith clearly defines why he believes that the Crusades were...