The Age of the Crusades The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517 [Paperback]

The kaleidoscopic political changes during the years covered by this volume include the rise and fall of the Crusader states, the expansion of the Mongol empire, the rise of the Mamluk sultanate and of its ultimate conquerors, the Ottomans. To all of these Professor Holt is a clear and skilful guide. He principally utilises, and to some extent reinterprets, the medieval Arabic sources, to present a picture which differs in important respects from the conventional western-orientated view.
Introduction: The lands and their peoples.  1. The Near East on the eve of the First Crusade.  2. The First Crusade 1095-1099.  3. The Frankish States and the Muslim Response 1099-1128.  4. Outremer and its People.  5. Zangi and Nur-al-Din 1128-1154.  6. Nur-al-Din and the rise of Saladin 1154-1174.  7. The Ascendancy of Saladin 1174-1193.  8. The Later Ayyubids 1193-1249.  9. Institutions from the Seljukids to the Ayyubids.  10. The Inauguration of the Mamluk Sultanate 1249-1260.  11. The Reign of al-Zahir Baybars 1260-1277.  12. The Establishment of the Kalavunid Dynasty 1277-1293.  13. The Reign of Nasir Muhammad (1) - the Usurpations 1293-1310.  14. The Reign of al-Nasir Muhammad (2) - the autocracy 1310-1341.  15. The Later Kalavunids and the Circassian Succession 1341-1399.  16. Egypt and Nubia to the late Fourteenth Century.  17. Institutions of the Mamluk Sultanate.  18. Diplomatic and Commercial Relations of the Mamluk Sultanate.  19. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and its Successors.
20. The Mamluk Sultanate in Decline (1) - the Sons and the Household of Barkuk 1399-1461.  21. the Mamluk Sultanate in Decline (2) - the Later Circassian Mamluk Sultans 1461-1517.  Conclusion: Retrospect and Prospect.