[ Tibbles] main argument is striking and original.Tony Barber, Financial Times
This is the first [ book] to explore the Crusades criminal underbelly. . . . A lively new twist.Jack Watkins, Country Life
Tibbles meticulous narrative details a cast of bootleggers and kidnappers, gamblers and muggers.Michael Prodger, New Statesman
Steve does a great job of making scholarship readable. It is difficult to write about the crusades without fully glorifying or fully villainising people . . . but he has a balanced way of looking at complex structures and individuals reasons for the crusades.The Medievals podcast
Included in The Medievals podcast Best Books of 2024
In a bravura account of the diffuse criminal mayhem surrounding the crusades, Steve Tibbles widely researched, lively, detailed and accessible new study adds a fresh sociological dimension to insights on the chronic civilian disruption produced by the wars of the cross.Christopher Tyerman, author of Gods War
This is a fascinating survey of knights failingoften spectacularlyto live up their crusading ideals in the Holy Land (and beyond), and instead resorting to illicit behaviour. . . . Tibble, with his deep knowledge of the primary sources, covers these areas both authoritatively and accessibly, adopting an engaging style that holds the readers attention throughout this wholly absorbing book, which will both shock and entertain in equal turn.Sean McGlynn, author of By Sword and Fire
A dark and gripping story of how many of the men signed with the cross as crusaders in the Middle Ages were at once holy warriors and hardened criminals. Tibbles history is a Hogarthian cavalcade of the murderers, thieves, pirates, rogues, and highwaymen who fought for Christ in the medieval Middle East. Entertaining and enlightening about a dangerous past with unexpected lessons for the present.Mark Gregory Pegg, author of Beatrices Last Smile
