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A controversial and illuminating new study of the Templars and the Crusader States - now in paperback.

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In 1187, nearly a century after the victorious First Crusade, Saladin captured Jerusalem. The Templars, headquartered on the Temple Mount, were driven from the city along with the Frankish population.The fall of Jerusalem was a turning point, the start of a narrative of desperate struggle and relentless loss. In little more than a century Acre would be destroyed, the Franks driven from Outremer, and the Templars themselves, reviled and disgraced, would face their final immolation.

Michael Haag´s new book explores the rise and fall of the Templars against the backdrop of the Crusader ideal and their settlement venture in Outremer. Haag argues that the Crusader States were a rare period when the population of Palestine had something approaching local rule, representing local interests - and the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin was a disaster. He contends that the Templars, as defenders of the Crusader States, were made scapegoats for a Europe whose newfound nationalism caused it to withdraw support for the Crusader venture. Throughout, he charts the Templars´ rise and fall in gripping narrative, with their beliefs and actions set in the context of their time.

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Enjoyable and informative...Haag...is a romantic pluralist...his clever coverage of the most abstruse Muslim schemes...is a pleasure to read Minoo Dinshaw TLS

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Michael Haag has written widely on the Egyptian, Classical and Medieval worlds. He is author of a dozen books, notably Alexandria: City of Memory, a definitive study of Cavafy, Forster and Lawrence Durrell in the city, and of The Templars: History and Myth.

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