Robert Irwin
Return of the Mahdi?
Saladin
By Anne-Marie Eddé (Translated by Jane Marie Todd)
Harvard University Press/Belknap Press 660pp £20 order from our bookshop
In Ridley Scott’s 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven Saladin features as an exotic male precursor of Goody Two-Shoes. He is shown to be the soul of chivalry, piety and good sense. By contrast, Reginald of Châtillon and most of the other barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as well as the heads of the military orders, are portrayed as nefarious, short-tempered, stupid and ugly – satisfactory villains then. In modern times Saladin has been celebrated for his campaigns against the Crusader Kingdom, his defeat of the army of the Kingdom at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 and the consequent capture of Jerusalem and, finally, his drawn-out struggle to beat back the armies of the Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart. Worn out, Saladin died not long after the withdrawal of those armies.
But it is interesting to reflect that, until his fluke victory at Hattin, two-thirds of Saladin’s wars had been fought against Muslims. In 1167 Nur al-Din, the ruler of Damascus, had sent him and his uncle with a mixed force of Turks and Kurds to attack Fatimid Egypt. In 1169
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
‘Even setting to one side the historically neuralgic relationship with ... Ireland, Britain’s insular periphery has from at least the time of the Romans presented difficulties for authorities wishing to centralise.’
Peter Marshall on Britain's islands.
Peter Marshall - Notes from the Atlantic Archipelago
Peter Marshall: Notes from the Atlantic Archipelago - The Britannias: An Island Quest by Alice Albinia
literaryreview.co.uk
Offer ends soon! Take advantage of our best ever Black Friday offer and get a year's subscription for £29.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/blackfriday/
Our best ever Black Friday discount!
Offer ends on Monday.