British historian Thomas Asbridge's book chronicles the Crusades—wars for dominance of the Holy Land, a region sacred to both Christians and Muslims—that were fought over two centuries. Such outstanding personalities as Richard the Lionheart, Louis IX, Philip Augustus, Zanghi, Baybars and many others took part in them. By examining the history of the bloody struggle from the point of view of both Christians and Muslims, the author thereby avoids bias in the narrative. He also pays great attention to the lessons of these campaigns, warning about the danger of historical parallelism.