This sweeping yet succinct new survey introduces readers to the history of the crusades from the eleventh to the twenty-first century. By synthesizing a variety of historical perspectives, the book deliberately locates crusading in the broader history of the Mediterranean, moving away from approaches focused primarily on narrating the deeds of a small section of the Latin Christian elite to explore the rich and contested complexity of crusade history. Table of Contents Introduction: What Were the Crusades? 1) Connections and Conflicts in the Eleventh-Century Mediterranean 2) Constructing the First Crusade: Contexts, Events, and Reactions 3) Shifting Ground: Crusading and the Twelfth- Century Mediterranean 4) Allies and