The New Concise History of the Crusades

Critical Issues in World and International History

By: Thomas F. Madden

Narrated by: Claton Butcher

How have the crusades contributed to Islamist rage and terrorism today? Were the crusades the Christian equivalent of modern jihad? In this sweeping yet crisp history, Thomas F. Madden offers a brilliant and compelling narrative of the crusades and their contemporary relevance. Placing all the major crusades within their medieval social, economic, religious, and intellectual environments, Madden explores the uniquely medieval world that led untold thousands to leave their homes, family, and friends to march in Christ's name to distant lands. From Palestine and Europe's farthest reaches, each crusade is recounted in clear, concise narrative. The author gives special attention as well to the crusades' effects on the Islamic world and the Christian Byzantine East.

©2006 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (P)2014 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“In crystal-clear and economical prose, Madden does a superb job of exposition. As an introduction to the vast literature of the crusades, this is a jewel of a book.” ( Washington Post Book World)

“Readers will owe Thomas Madden warm thanks for so clear an introductory account of so complex a phenomenon as a crusade.” ( The Historian)

Well done!

An unbiased history. It was easy to see the truth, the politics, greed, and desire for power behind it all. No fluff, no glory, just man being as full of his desires and ego as always.
I enjoyed this work very much. Its a broad summary which plays out through a large length of time in one condensed book.
The narration was very clear and pleasant. In my opinion narrating a book of this type is not easy but the narrator did a superb job.
*This is my unbiased review via a promotional copy.

great historical information - bad performance

excellent information on the crusades but needs a proper voice actor - the presenter sounds like a computer generated voice - personally that is very distracting

Great book!

I loved it, very informative. I will recommend this book to my friends. I will probably listen to it again.

Excellent book, jarring reader

Thomas Madden has produced vintage scholarship for the masses here. For a concise history, the book is thorough, detailed, learned, but supremely accessible to general audiences. It is also honest, balanced, and devoid of the usual vitriol and cheap superficial clichés traditional western historians of the crusades rain on those mediaeval campaigns of “piety and charity,” judging them by today’s standards, likening them to some putative early forms of rapacious Western colonialism. And so, although this is a book I would read again and again, I found the Audible reader insufferable; his attempts at pronouncing French, German, and Spanish names (although perhaps well-meaning) were unsuccessful, confusing, and ended up being jarring and an distraction, interrupting the momentum of an otherwise excellent text. My advice is if you’re unable to produce foreign names natively, please stick to the English equivalent; English is perfectly fine, in a book written in English, and intended for anglophone audiences.

Great book almost ruined by the narrator

This book seemed to fit what I was looking for perfectly. I wanted a condensed history of the Crusades. I really enjoyed the story and the way the author spent some time explaining how sincere religious motivation was at the heart of those who marched off to Jerusalem. In today's world it is easy to be so fixated by materialistic goals that it can seem all but alien that there was a time when the spiritual overshadowed the physical.
I read all the reviews and was some what taken aback by MK Miller's review.....could the pronunciation really be that bad? Yes....a thousand times over, yes. I honestly think that if I had to hear him pronounce Frederick Barbarossa's name again I would have lost it. I had to perform a quick re-read of history just to figure out he was attempting to say Conrad. To hear someone read in perfect English only to feel the need to pronounce every name in the dialect of the country they hailed from was incredibly distracting and the distraction got worse and worse as the book progressed. I caught myself thinking back to that Sat Night Live skit where they poked fun at the news reporters and news anchors who felt the need to pronounce every Central American word with a latino tongue roll. Sadly, this narrator wasn't attempting to be funny.

Saved my ass for school

Had to read the book for a class and the audiobook really came in clutch.

The actual book is really interesting too, it gave me a new perspective and more I depth look on events that are so cemented in pop culture.

Speed 1.5x or faster much better than normal speed

Any additional comments?

At normal speed, it is almost intolerably plodding. At faster speeds, it is much, much better. I've listened to many Audible books, but never felt this way before.

Fine book, ruined by bizarre narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No. The content is excellent but the narrator is so annoying I couldn't recommend it.

How could the performance have been better?

If the narrator would stick to English. He apparently thinks that it helps for him to attempt to pronounce many, but not all, words of non-English origin in some kind of simulacrum of their original sound. This is mostly true of personal and place names. It is deeply deeply deeply annoying. It does less than zero for the narrative flow and comes across as amateurish posturing. I almost returned the book because of it. Awful.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It's a history book.

Any additional comments?

Madden's work is very good. His book on Venice was outstanding. And he is the rare historian without a viciously self-hating bias against the West. Too bad his work was stuck with this crazy-making narration.

Great balanced, historical view of the Crusades

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I found this very informative. It really gave an excellent historical account of the Crusades without some of the bias that so often accompanies such an account. Very well written, and great audio presentation!

What does Claton Butcher bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I always enjoy Claton's narration. I find him very easy to listen to.

Just read the print version.

The odd pronunciation of proper names were distracting and, at times, annoying and made the content difficult to follow.