In the late fall of 1095 Pope Urban II gave a speech in Clermont, France and set all of Europe into motion. As many as a hundred and fifty thousand people eventually responded to the call, leaving everything they knew behind to undertake what appeared to be a fool’s mission: marching several thousand miles into enemy territory to reconquer Jerusalem for Christendom. Against all odds they succeeded, creating a Christian outpost in the heart of the Islamic world that lasted for the better part of two centuries.

Perhaps no other period in history is as misunderstood as the Crusades, and in this fast-paced account Brownworth presents the entire story, from the first clash of Christendom and Islam in the dusty sands of Yarmouk, to the fall of the last crusader state. Along the way he introduces the reader to an exotic world peopled by mighty emperors, doomed Templars, grasping generals, and ambitious peasants. Some of the most famous names of the Middle Ages - Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the legendary Prester John - illuminate this era of splendor, adventure, and faith.

拉爾斯•布朗沃思 Lars Brownworth,英語世界公認“會講故事的卓越曆史作傢”，著名播主、作傢、教師，創立瞭曆史播客“拜占庭十二帝”。2004年，蘋果公司開創瞭一種可下載、可共享的音頻産品，即後來眾所周知的“播客”（podcast）；拉爾斯•布朗沃思的 “拜占庭十二帝”作為曆史播客的定調之作，被蘋果公司同步推齣，在國際範圍內贏得瞭無數的聽眾。目前，布朗沃思一直更新著他的曆史播客，並且在美國一所教會大學擔任曆史係主任。

《紐約時報》贊譽布朗沃思是一位傑齣的曆史普及作傢。著有暢銷曆史作品《諾曼風雲：從蠻族到王族的三個世紀》《維京傳奇：來自海上的戰狼》和《拜占庭帝國：拯救西方文明的東羅馬韆年史》。書中的筆法延續瞭他播客中引人入勝的敘事風格和性格鮮明的人物描寫，都曾登上《紐約時報》暢銷書榜單。