Beginning in 1095, Christianity and Islam clashed repeatedly over a 200-year period in the Middle East, in the series of wars we call The Crusades. This era saw naked scheming, selfish grabs for power, treachery of all kinds, and horrific battles—and many examples of nobility, heroism, and faith on both sides.

Fantasy & Science Fiction Grandmaster Robert Silverberg brings alive the human participants in these wars, and demonstrates why they remain so strikingly relevant to the political situation of our modern-day world. With dozens of illustrations by noted SF author and artist Judith Ann Lawrence (Judy Blish).