A Global History of the Wars for the Middle East
Interview with Nicholas Morton about his book The Crusader Storm: A Global History of the Wars for the Middle East. Challenges the traditional East versus West narrative, highlighting the complex geopolitics of the medieval Middle East, involving numerous factions like the Fatimids, Seljuks, and local communities. The Crusader states were minor players in a region rife with internal conflicts, where religion was one of many drivers, alongside personal rivalries, trade, and power balances. Explains how the Crusader’s initial survival relied on exploiting existing regional instability, Jerusalem’s immense religious significance despite its strategic unimportance, and the pivotal Battle of Hattin.
See also the episode about his earlier book The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East.