Nicopolis 1396
david nicolle
Publisher Osprey Publishing Publish Date June, 2001
Pages 96 Language English

Description:

By the second half of the 14th century, the once mighty Byzantine Empire had been reduced to little more than the city of Constantinople. In 1391 the Ottoman ruler Sultan Bayazid I 'The Lightning' besieged the city. Pope Boniface IX preached a crusade and a French-led army of 10,000 marched east. At Nicopolis they met the Ottoman army in battle. Ignoring the advice of their Hungarian and Transylvanian allies the Crusaders charged the Turks and were in turn smashed by the Ottoman heavy cavalry. This book details how the last Crusade ended on the banks of the Danube as the Crusaders desperately sought to escape from the pursuing Turks.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/991080624/sharebookfree.com_1714622015.rar

The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History
david lowenthal
Publisher Cambridge University Press Publish Date May, 1998
Pages 356 Language English

Description:
Heritage, while it often constitutes and defines the most positive aspects of culture, is a malleable body of historical text subject to interpretation and easily twisted into myth. When it is appealed to on a national or ethnic level in reactions against racial, religious, or economic oppression, the result is often highly-charged political contention or conflict. The extraordinary theme of this unique book is how the rise of a manifold, crusade-like obsession with tradition and inheritance–both physical and cultural--can lead to either good or evil. In a balanced account of the pros and cons of the rhetoric and spoils of heritage--on the one hand cultural identity and unity, on the other, potential holy war--David Lowenthal discusses the myriad uses and abuses of historical appropriation and offers a rare and accessible account of a concept at once familiar and fraught with complexity. David Lowenthal is Emeritus Professor of Geography at University College London, and the author of the bestselling The Past is a Foreign Country (Cambridge, 1985)

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1099161514/sharebookfree.com_1632621918.rar

The Templars: History & Myth: From Solomon’s Temple to the Freemasons
michael haag
Pages 384 Language English

Description:

The first history of the legendary knights since the Vatican momentously released the records of their trial and exoneration

Who were the Templars?
What was the secret of their wealth and power?
Why did the pope and the king of France act to destroy them?

The Knights Templar were founded on Christmas Day 1119, on the very spot in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was crucified. A religious order of fighting knights, the Templars defended the Holy Land and Christian pilgrims in the decades after the First Crusade. Legendary for their bravery and dedication, the Templars became one of the wealthiest and most powerful bodies of the medieval world—until they were condemned for heresy two centuries after their foundation, when the order was abolished and its leaders were burned at the stake.

In The Templars, renowned historian Michael Haag investigates the origins and history, the enduring myths, and the soaring architecture of an enigmatic order long shrouded in mystery and controversy. The hand of the Templars, many believe, can be found in everything from Cathar heresy to Masonic conspiracies, and the Knights Templar still inspire popular culture, from Indiana Jones to Xbox games, to the novels of Dan Brown.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1462303784/sharebookfree.com_1789479894.rar

Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades
jonathan phillips
Pages 464 Language English
File Size 4.51 MB File Type EPUB
Description:

From an internationally renowned expert, here is an accessible and utterly fascinating one-volume history of the Crusades, thrillingly told through the experiences of its many players—knights and sultans, kings and poets, Christians and Muslims. Jonathan Phillips traces the origins, expansion, decline, and conclusion of the Crusades and comments on their contemporary echoes—from the mysteries of the Templars to the grim reality of al-Qaeda. Holy Warriors puts the past in a new perspective and brilliantly sheds light on the origins of today’s wars.

Starting with Pope Urban II’s emotive, groundbreaking speech in November 1095, in which he called for the recovery of Jerusalem from Islam by the First Crusade, Phillips traces the centuries-long conflict between two of the world’s great faiths. Using songs, sermons, narratives, and letters of the period, he reveals how the success of the First Crusade inspired generations of kings to campaign for their own vainglory and set down a marker for the knights of Europe, men who increasingly blurred the boundaries between chivalry and crusading. In the Muslim world, early attempts to call a jihad fell upon deaf ears until the charisma of the Sultan Saladin brought the struggle to a climax. Yet the story that emerges has other dimensions—as never before, Phillips incorporates the holy wars within the story of medieval Christendom and Islam and shines new light on many truces, alliances, and diplomatic efforts that have been forgotten over the centuries.

Holy Warriors also discusses how the term “crusade” survived into the modern era and how its redefinition through romantic literature and the drive for colonial empires during the nineteenth century gave it an energy and a resonance that persisted down to the alliance between Franco and the Church during the Spanish Civil War and right up to George W. Bush’s pious “war on terror.”

Elegantly written, compulsively readable, and full of stunning new portraits of unforgettable real-life figures—from Richard the Lionhearted to Melisende, the formidable crusader queen of Jerusalem—Holy Warriors is a must-read for anyone interested in medieval Europe, as well as for those seeking to understand the history of religious conflict.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1462484674/sharebookfree.com_1904134673.rar

The Templar Code For Dummies
alice von kannon, christopher hodapp
Pages 384 Language English
File Size 15.98 MB File Type PDF
Description:

A captivating look into the society of the Knights Templar

Brought to you by the author of Freemasons For Dummies, The Templar Code is more than an intriguing cipher or a mysterious symbol – it is the Code by which the Knights Templar lived and died, the Code that bound them together in secrecy, and the Code that inspired them to nearly superhuman feats of courage and endurance. The Templar Code for Dummies reveals the meaning behind the cryptic codes and secret rituals of the medieval brotherhood of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar. This intriguing guide will cover such topics as who the Knights Templar were, how they rose so high and fell so far, and most importantly why there is so much interest in them today. The Templar Code For Dummies will explore myths and theories of Christian history that appear in the Da Vinci Code such as the quest for the Holy Grail, the Catholic Church's relationship with women that are hotly debated now with special emphasis on the Templar connection. It also explores the surprising part the Templars have played in some of the most important historic events of these past seven centuries, including the French Revolution, the birth of groups such as the Freemasons, and even the American Civil War.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1055315394/sharebookfree.com_1631268126.rar

Teutonic Knight 1190 – 1561
david nicolle
Pages 64 Language English
File Size 42.23 MB File Type PDF
Description:

The Military Order of Teutonic Knights was one of the three most famous Crusading Orders; the others being the Templars and the Hospitallers. Like these two, the Teutonic Knights initially focused upon the preservation of the Crusader States in the Middle East. Wielding their swords in the name of their faith, the crusading knights set out to reclaim Jerusalem. Unlike the Templars they survived the crises of identity and purpose which followed the loss of the last Crusader mainland enclaves in the late thirteenth century and, like the Hospitallers, they managed to create a new purpose - and a new field of combat - for themselves. Whereas the Hospitallers focused their energies in the eastern Mediterranean battling against Muslim armies, the Teutonic Knights shifted their efforts to the Baltic, to the so-called Northern Crusades against pagan Prussians and Lithuanians and, to a lesser extent, against Orthodox Christian Russia. As a result the Order of Teutonic Knights became a significant power, not only in the Baltic but in north-central Europe as a whole. Paradoxically, however, it was their fellow Catholic Christian Polish neighbours who became their most dangerous foes, breaking the Order's power in the mid-fifteenth century. The Teutonic Knights lingered on in what are now Estonia and Latvia for another century, but this was little more than a feeble afterglow. This title will examine this fascinating military and religious order in detail, revealing the colourful history of the crusades within Europe itself which inexorably changed the future of the continent.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1043496554/sharebookfree.com_499980100.rar

The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Hidden History: The Ultimate A-Z of Ancient Mysteries, Lost Civilizations and Forgotten Wisdom
john michael greer
Pages 704 Language English
File Size 1.01 MB File Type EPUB
Description:

Next in the popular Element Encyclopedia series, comes the complete A–Z of alternative history. Discover everything you ever wanted to know about secret societies like the Freemasons, the historical mystery of Atlantis, why King Arthur, Leonardo da Vinci and Hitler are key figures, plus conspiracy theories, forgotten sciences and ancient wisdom. A complete and informative A--Z for one of the most popular genres to have emerged in recent times -- the hidden history of the last 10,000 years. This encyclopedia answers all your questions on the more controversial subjects being debated: / Conspiracies and secret societies, e.g. Knights Templars, the Rosicrucians, the Freemasons, the Bavarian Illuminati, the Hellfire Club, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Priory of Sion. It also includes secret traditions, hidden bloodlines, extraterrestrial intervention, imminent apocalypse, and the Mayan calendar prophecies. / Ancient wisdom and forgotten sciences, e.g. alchemy, prophecy, sacred geometry, ley lines, and magic, as well as supporting evidence for advanced technologies in ancient times e.g. the mysteries of Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. / Unsolved historical mysteries, e.g. the location of Atlantis, the early history of Christianity, the Holy Grail, the fate of the Knights Templars, the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, the causes of the French Revolution, and the occult roots of Nazism. / Key figures in hidden history -- Pythagoras, Jesus of Nazareth, Leonardo da Vinci, King Arthur, Roger Bacon, John Dee, Alessandro Cagliostro, the Comte de St.-Germain, Benjamin Franklin, and Adolf Hitler.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1125467674/sharebookfree.com_564139332.rar

The Real History Behind the Templars
sharan newman
Pages 432 Language English
File Size 8.00 MB File Type PDF
Description:

The medieval historian who revealed The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code uncloaks the Templars.

In the year 1119, these noblemen found their calling as protectors of the faithful on a dangerous pilgrimage to newly conquered Jerusalem. Now, historian Sharan Newman elucidates the mysteries and misconceptions of the Templars, from their true first founding and role in the Crusades to more modern intrigues, including:

Dictionary of Battles and Sieges [Three Volumes]: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century
tony jaques
Pages 1432 Language English
File Size 10.10 MB File Type PDF
Description:

Lead Reviewer: Dr. Daniel Coetzee, Independent Scholar, London, UK Review Board: Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, UK Dr. Frances F. Berdan, Professor of Anthropology, California State University, San Bernardino David A. Graff, Associate Professor, Department of History, Kansas State University Dr. Kevin Jones, University College London Dr. John Laband, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Dr. Carter Malkasian, Center for Naval Analysis Mr. Toby McLeod, Lecturer in Modern History, University of Birmingham, UK Dr. Tim Moreman, Independent Scholar, London, UK Professor Bill Nasson, Department of Historical Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa Dr. David Nicolle, Honourary Research Fellow, Nottingham University, UK Dr. Kaushik Roy, Lecturer, Department of History, Presidency College, Kolkata, India Dennis Showalter, Professor of History, Colorado College Dr. Stephen Turnbull, Lecturer in Japanese Religious Studies, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Leeds University, UK Professor Michael Whitby, Professor of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick, UK

Over 8,500 battles and sieges are covered-easily the most exhaustive reference source on this basic aspect of military history. Thoroughly vetted by an expert board of period and regional experts, this dictionary offers easy to find A-Z entries that cover conflicts from practically every era and place of human history. In addition to exhaustive coverage of World War II, World War I, the American Civil War, medieval wars, and conflicts during the classical era, this dictionary covers battles fought in pre-modern Africa, the Middle East, Ancient and Medieval India, China, and Japan, and early meso-American warfare as well.

Going well beyond the typical greatest or most influential battle format, The Dictionary of Battles and Sieges offers readers information they would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Entries were reviewed by area and period experts to ensure accuracy and to provide the broadest coverage possible. Jaques's Dictionary is truly global in scope, covering East Asia, South Asia, Eurasia, Europe, Africa, Mesoamerica, and North and South America. Battles from wars great and small are in the dictionary, including battles from this very brief sampling of wars covered, listed to give an idea of the book's deep coverage: Egyptian-Syrian Wars (1468 BC); the Assyrian Wars (724 - 648 BC); Greco-Persian Wars (498 - 450 BC); the Conquests of Alexander the Great (335-326 BC); Rome's Gallic Wars (121-52 BC); Han Imperial Wars (208); Hun-Ostrogoth Wars (454-68); Sino-Vietnamese Wars (547-605); Mecca-Medina War (624-30); Jinshin War (672); Berber Rebellion (740-61); Viking Raids on, and in, Britain (793-954); Sino-Annamese War (938); Byzantine Military Rebellions (978-89); Afghan Wars of Succession (998-1041); Russian Dynastic Wars (1016-94); Reconquista (1063-1492); Crusader-Muslim Wars (1100- 1179); Swedish Wars of Succession (1160-1210); Conquests of Genghis Khan (1202-27); William Wallace Revolt (1297-1304); Hundred Years War (1337-1453); War of Chioggia (1378-80); Vijayanagar-Bahmani Wars (1367-1406); Ottoman Civil Wars (1413-81); Mongol-Uzbek Wars (1497-1512); German Knights' War (1523); Burmese-Laotian Wars (1574); Cambodian-Spanish War (1599); King Philip's War (1675-77); Franco-Barbary Wars (1728); Bengal War (1763-65); French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1801); Chilean War of Independence (1813-26); Boer-Zulu War (1838); Indian Mutiny (1858-59); Mexican-French War (1862-67); Sino-Japanese War (1894-95); World War I (1914-18); Anhwei-Chihli War (1920); World War II (1939-45) Mau Mau Revolt (1955); 2nd Indo-Pakistani War (1965); Angolan War (1987-88); 2nd Gulf War (2003- ).

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1465966924/sharebookfree.com_1917705112.rar

The Secret History, with Related Texts
prokopios
Publisher Hackett Publishing Co. Publish Date March, 2010
Pages 276 Language English
Upload Date July 18, 2011 Categories History
File Size 3.30 MB File Type PDF
Description:

By exposing the perversion, repression, corruption, and injustice at the heart of Justinian's regime, Prokopios' The Secret History destroyed forever that emperor's reputation as the great and benevolent ruler of a vast Byzantine state.

Faithfully rendered here in blunt and idiomatic English, Prokopios' tell-all is as shocking today as it was in the sixth century. Kaldellis' substantial Introduction addresses, among other topics, the historical background to The Secret History; Prokopios' literary style and major themes; and the relationships between Prokopios, Justinian, and Empress Theodora. Maps, genealogies, a glossary, and a selection of related texts (including excerpts from Prokopios' Wars and Buildings and several contemporary documents) enhance and support the reading of this scandalous and suspenseful book.
http://www.filesonic.com/file/1470801364/sharebookfree.com_2053990771.rar

Byzantine Cavalryman C.900-1204 (Osprey Warrior 139)
timothy dawson
Publisher Osprey Publishing Publish Date August, 2009
Pages 64 Language English
Upload Date July 17, 2011 Categories History
File Size 13.76 MB File Type PDF
Description:

Regarded as the elite arm of the military during the Middle Byzantine period, the cavalry executed high speed reconnaissance, agile arrow barrages and crippling blows to enemy formations. Its ranks were filled primarily through direct recruitment or hereditary service by holders of military lands, but in times of crisis irregulars would be temporarily enlisted. Few books provide any accessible study of the medieval Romaic soldier's life, and this colorful addition to the Warrior series seeks to redress this imbalance. Offering a thorough and detailed examination of their training, weaponry, dress and daily life, this book re-affirms the importance of cavalry troops in military victories of the period. Making use of original Greek source material, and featuring unpublished manuscript images, this follow-on volume to Warrior 118 Byzantine Infantryman c.900-1204 brings the world of the Byzantine cavalryman vividly to life.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1462303934/sharebookfree.com_2063888107.rar

History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808
stanford j. shaw
Pages 368 Language English
File Size 16.63 MB File Type PDF
Description:

Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280-1808 is the first book of the two-volume History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. It describes how the Ottoman Turks, a small band of nomadic soldiers, managed to expand their dominions from a small principality in northwestern Anatolia on the borders of the Byzantine Empire into one of the great empires of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe and Asia, extending from northern Hungary to southern Arabia and from the Crimea across North Africa almost to the Atlantic Ocean. The volume sweeps away the accumulated prejudices of centuries and describes the empire of the sultans as a living, changing society, dominated by the small multinational Ottoman ruling class led by the sultan, but with a scope of government so narrow that the subjects, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, were left to carry on their own lives, religions, and traditions with little outside
http://www.filesonic.com/file/1462414554/sharebookfree.com_1503189489.rar

Vienna 1683: Christian Europe Repels the Ottomans
simon millar

Pages 96 Language English
File Size 16.40 MB File Type PDF/SCAN
Description:

The capture of the Hapsburg city of Vienna was a major strategic aspiration for the Islamic Ottoman Empire, desperate for the control that the city exercised over the Danube and the overland trade routes between southern and northern Europe. In July 1683 Sultan Mehmet IV proclaimed a jihad and the Turkish grand vizier, Kara Mustafa Pasha, laid siege to the city with an army of 150,000 men.

In September a relieving force arrived under Polish command and joined up with the defenders to drive the Turks away. The main focus of this book is the final 15-hour battle for Vienna, which climaxed with a massive charge by three divisions of Polish winged hussars. This hard-won victory marked the beginning of the decline of the Islamic Ottoman Empire, which was never to threaten central Europe again.
http://www.filesonic.com/file/1461766814/sharebookfree.com_523058170.rar

A History of the Crusades (6-Volume Set)
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press | ISBN : N/A | 1985 | PDF | 257MB (FS-FSn)

A History of the Crusades is arguably the best known and most widely acclaimed work of historian Steven Runciman. These six volumes stand as the definitive history of the Crusades, spanning five centuries, encompassing Jewish, Moslem, and Christian perspectives, and containing a wealth of information and analysis of the history, politics, economics, and culture of the medieval world.

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