Crusader Castle

The formidable strongholds built by the crusaders are among the most iconic castles of the Middle Ages. These mighty structures offer fascinating insights into the lives of those who built and occupied them, and the role they played in the region¿s deep history of conflict. The castle of Kerak, in modern Jordan, is one of the largest, most imposing and best preserved of them all, and Michael Fulton¿s detailed, authoritative and highly illustrated account is the ideal guide to it. His close analysis of the fabric of this monumental building, and his description of the centuries of conflict associated with it, make absorbing reading. He takes the reader through the early military history of the castle ¿ from the time it was constructed in the 1140s by Pagan the Butler, through the provocative actions of Reynald of Ch¿llon and Saladin¿s capture of the castle in 1188. He also recounts its later history under Muslim rule, when the castle served as a treasury for the Ayyubid and Mamluk sulta