Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Jones (The Plantagenets; War of the Roses) brings his well-tuned narrative style to the subject of the Templars, who played a critical role in the Crusades from their beginnings in 1119 through the early 14th century, acting as knights and financiers, and whose castles dotted the Holy Land of Jerusalem. Jones divides the book into four parts: "Pilgrims," which discusses the order's founding; "Soldiers," covering campaigns in the Holy Land and in Spain; "Bankers," highlighting growing financial and landed interests; and "Heretics," detailing the Templars' dramatic end by arrest and inquisition in the early 1300s. Readers will discover important figures in Crusade history, including Richard the Lionheart, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Saladin, the Baldwin dynasty, and many others. Critical events, including the Battle of Hattin (1187) and the capture of Acre (1191) are well detailed. The book reads well, but it is information rich; a general background of the Crusades is recommended. VERDICT Both seasoned medievalists and lay readers wanting a detailed account of the Crusades will find food for thought here. Highly relevant to current events. [See Prepub Alert, 3/27/17.]-Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
Jones's narrative history of the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple (popularly known as the Templars) will have wide appeal among those who appreciate well-sourced history told in an easy, readable fashion. Jones (The Plantagenets), a journalist and historian of medieval and early modern Europe, draws on sources from across Europe and the Middle East to recount how a small group of crusaders formed what began as a charity-dependent protective detail for European pilgrims and Christian holy sites. Earning the patronage of powerful monastic Bernard of Clairvaux, the Templars rapidly became major players across two centuries of Christian Europe's holy war against the Islamic world. In four thematic sections, the author tells a chronological tale of the Templars' hardscrabble beginnings (ca. 1102-1144); their rise as military leaders (1144-1187); the consolidation of their economic, military, political, and social power (1189-1260); and finally their fall from grace (1260-1311) as their widespread influence threatened competing European and Christian political and religious authorities. A short epilogue touches on the lasting cultural influence of the Templars-an order, the author observes, that "always existed in two spheres, the real and the imaginary." This is an engrossing examination of a period whose conflicts are still reverberating today. (Sept.)? © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
CHOICE Review
Jones (independent scholar and journalist) has written an eminently readable book, so its appearance for one week in October 2017 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list should not surprise. In every respect, this is a traditional narrative history of an institution from its foundation to its violent dissolution. Jones follows in the worn footprints of others, for popular histories of the Templars are common. The author does not provide new insights, and his knowledge of this Order and of the era in which it flourished is wide but not deep. The author accomplishes three things. One, he relates an engaging tale that will reward casual readers. Two, he diligently uses all of the relevant primary sources, many of which are translated but were not readily available before the 1990s. Three, while he uses secondary materials selectively rather than definitively, he has drawn on the rich scholarship of the past several decades, and that makes this account up-to-date. In a short epilogue, Jones addresses the conspiracy theories and legends that have plagued the study of this medieval military order. To his credit, he gives them no weight. Summing Up: Recommended. Public, general, and lower-level undergraduate collections. --Laurence W. Marvin, Berry College
Booklist Review
The Knight Templar is the premier icon of the Crusades, a mounted knight in full armor covered by a white mantle with a large red cross on the front. The men so caparisoned were soldier-monks of an order founded in 1119 and terminated in 1312. Primary protectors of the five Christian states established by the First Crusade, they were the shock troops of the second through seventh crusades in the Holy Land. They were always vastly outnumbered in the order by the sergeants, infantry, naval support, and, most important, its maintenance crew. The Templar masters were senior soldier-diplomats well connected to those with deep pockets who quickly made the order spectacularly wealthy. This proved its undoing when unscrupulous French king Philip IV seized its assets via an extermination campaign resembling Nazi Germany's Night of the Long Knives, agonizingly drawn out for seven years. With engaging liveliness and not even a penknife to grind, Jones (The Wars of the Roses, 2014) chronicles the Templars' actual record of great military achievement, fiduciary responsibility, exceptional faithfulness, and lasting cultural significance.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2017 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
An up-close look at the legendary band of Crusaders.Jones (Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty, 2015, etc.) examines the storied Templars, an organization of quasi-monastic warriors who rose to fame and power in the midst of the Crusades,only to rapidly collapse in questionable scandals. The author realizes that the allure of the Templars, then and now, is related to their otherworldly ideal. "In a sense," he writes, "the Order had always existed in two spheres, the real and the imaginary." The Templars uniquely combined the rigid discipline of a monastic order with the seemingly secular profession of soldier. This unusual pairing, along with the epic backdrop of the Crusades, made them popular among their contemporaries and has kept them in the public imagination since. Starting in 1119 as a band of soldiers committed to protecting Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, the Templars soon received the spiritual patronage of 12th-century divine Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard wrote the "rule" by which the Templars were to live and work and advocated for them with the powers that be. The Templars would go on to achieve great fame and eventually become very wealthy landowners. Late in the century, the armies of Saladin would decimate them and reverse their achievements; however, the order would live on and rise to prominence again. Early in the 14th century, Templar leaders were, rightly or wrongly, accused of heresy and many were imprisoned or put to death, putting an end to the order and, most importantly, to its power. Jones provides a meaty, well-researched history replete with primary source quotes. Organized in four distinct parts, the narrative clearly lays out the story of the Templars and their changing fortunes. Though steeped in the facts of medieval history, the book presents as accessible to general readers. An exceptional introduction to the Templars. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.