Reading list thread for Broken Crescent addicts.

[Cadmium77]

Tirant Lo Blanc (The White Knight)

A knight travels to Byzantium and gets involved in wars...I've got the book on my shelf but It's been a quarter century since I've read it, which is pretty scary to me, you know...

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext95/whitk10.txt

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/378

Tirant lo Blanc is a story about a knight — Tirant — from Brittany, who has a series of adventures across Europe (he joins in knightly competitions in England and France) until the Emperor of the Greeks asks him to help in the war against the Turks. Tirant accepts, is made Megaduke of the Empire, becomes the captain of an army, defeats the Turks and saves the Empire, then battles Moors in many regions of the Oriental Mediterranean and Northern Africa, but dies just before he can marry the pretty heiress of the Empire.

Some parts of Tirant bear certain parallels with the life of Admiral Roger de Flor, the leader of the Almogavars (Catalan and Aragonese mercenaries that helped the Byzantine Empire to fight the Turks), and who was murdered by the Byzantines. There are also similarities with the Hunyadi.

The loss of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire (1453) was considered at the time to be a major blow to Christian Europe. In writing his novel Martorell perhaps rewrote history to fit what he wanted it to be.




And then there's this;


http://www.amazon.com/Arab-Syrian-Ge.../dp/0231121253



So add to this list. There's some incredible scholars involved in this mod and I'm sure they could provide some incredible works to add to this bibliography. It would be good for all of us to use this mod as an excuse for educating ourselves in anticipation of its release.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

Hey Tobo, please make an effort to be polite. Your habit of posting random angry sentiments has gotten old quick.

Cadmium, thanks for the list, I'll check out my uni's library and see if they have any of those.

[Miraj]

*post deleted* Please remember that this is an open forum and unless a person posts spam or engages in disruptive behavior he's free to post what he wishes. Please cut out the rude comments Tobo.

Great idea Cadmium, I hope this grows into something nice.

[teh.frickin.pope]

The knights Templar by Stephen Howarth gives a great picture of the build up to the crusade, and the history of Outremer.
http://www.amazon.com/Knights-Templa...286881-3913202

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World

By Justin Marozzi

Info:

A powerful account of the life of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last master nomadic power, one of history's most extreme tyrants ever, and the subject of Marlowe's play. Marozzi travelled in the footsteps of the great Mogul Emperor of Samarkland to write this wonderful combination of history and travelogue. The name of the last great warlord conjures up images of mystery and romance: medieval warfare on desert plains; the clash of swords on snow-clad mountains; the charge of elephants across the steppes of Asia; the legendary opulence and cruelty of the illiterate, chess-playing nemesis of Asia. He ranks alongside Alexander as one of the world's great conquerors, yet the details of his life are scarcely known in the West. He was not born to a distinguished family, nor did he find his apprenticeship easy - at one point his mobile army consisted only of himself, his wife, seven companions and four horses - but his dominion grew with astonishing rapidity. In the last two decades of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, he blazed through Asia.





Babur Nama

Autobiography


Info:

The Babur Nama, a journal kept by Zahir Uddin Muhammad Babur (1483–1530), the founder of the Mughal Empire, is the earliest example of autobiographical writing in world literature, and one of the finest. Against the turbulent backdrop of medieval history, it paints a precise and vivid picture of life in Central Asia and Afghanistan—where Babur ruled in Samarkand and Kabul—and in the Indian subcontinent, where his dazzling military career culminated in the founding of a dynasty that lasted three centuries.




The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600 [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)


By Halil Inalcik


Info:

A preeminent scholar of Turkish history vividly portrays 300 years of this distinctively Eastern culture as it grew from a military principality to the world's most powerful Islamic state. He paints a striking picture of the prominence of religion and warfare in everyday life, as well as the traditions of statecraft, administration, social values, financial, and land policies. "...masterly...Halil Inalcik is one of the foremost living students of Ottoman history...Read this book..."--Times Literary Supplement.

[Beauchamp]

Baburnameh is great! So is Shahnameh but it is very long, personally, I would say read Tariq Ali's two books "Sultan in Palermo" and "Book of Saladin" both very easy to read, passes the time.

[IrAr]

Thanks for the thread, Cadium! I'll look through my library in a bit and update this thread.

[Cadmium77]

Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World

By Justin Marozzi

Info:

A powerful account of the life of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last master nomadic power, one of history's most extreme tyrants ever, and the subject of Marlowe's play. Marozzi travelled in the footsteps of the great Mogul Emperor of Samarkland to write this wonderful combination of history and travelogue. The name of the last great warlord conjures up images of mystery and romance: medieval warfare on desert plains; the clash of swords on snow-clad mountains; the charge of elephants across the steppes of Asia; the legendary opulence and cruelty of the illiterate, chess-playing nemesis of Asia. He ranks alongside Alexander as one of the world's great conquerors, yet the details of his life are scarcely known in the West. He was not born to a distinguished family, nor did he find his apprenticeship easy - at one point his mobile army consisted only of himself, his wife, seven companions and four horses - but his dominion grew with astonishing rapidity. In the last two decades of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, he blazed through Asia.





Babur Nama

Autobiography


Info:

The Babur Nama, a journal kept by Zahir Uddin Muhammad Babur (1483–1530), the founder of the Mughal Empire, is the earliest example of autobiographical writing in world literature, and one of the finest. Against the turbulent backdrop of medieval history, it paints a precise and vivid picture of life in Central Asia and Afghanistan—where Babur ruled in Samarkand and Kabul—and in the Indian subcontinent, where his dazzling military career culminated in the founding of a dynasty that lasted three centuries.




The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600 [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)


By Halil Inalcik


Info:

A preeminent scholar of Turkish history vividly portrays 300 years of this distinctively Eastern culture as it grew from a military principality to the world's most powerful Islamic state. He paints a striking picture of the prominence of religion and warfare in everyday life, as well as the traditions of statecraft, administration, social values, financial, and land policies. "...masterly...Halil Inalcik is one of the foremost living students of Ottoman history...Read this book..."--Times Literary Supplement.

http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/beve...rnama/page_057

Online version of Babur Nama. Thank you.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/beve...rnama/page_057

Online version of Babur Nama. Thank you.

Noooooo! I want to buy a hard-cover copy of the book and read it in the comforting retreat of my bedroom!

[Cadmium77]

Noooooo! I want to buy a hard-cover copy of the book and read it in the comforting retreat of my bedroom!

I can do that with my new laptop!

[Miraj]

Kitab-I-Yamini: Historical memoirs of the Amir Sabaktugin and the Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna

This is a contemporary chronicle (950s AD) of the first 2 independent rulers of Ghazni (Sebuktigin and Mahmud) and an account of their wars with various Muslim emirs and their invasions of India.

It's a bit of a hard read and I don't expect anyone to, but its quite interesting since these are the words of a man who lived during those times and it gives a good insight into the values and happenings of a time over 1000 years ago.

[IrAr]

Sasunits Tavit Armenian folk tale of a young man who defends his town from the Egyptian invaders (Musr meaning Egypt).

[Miraj]

http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.ph...David_of_Sasun

God Bless the Internet.

[Rex Armeniae]

You mean the Internets

Ohh, Hovhannes Tumanian... he's the man
Thanks for that link mirage

[Ahiga]

If you can get your hands on it, I might suggest Harold Lamb's books on the Mongols, Tamerlane, or Crusaders and Saracens. He's a turn of the century writer much like Robert E Howard or maybe HP Lovecraft. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but his writing style is to inject a narrative feeling to the novel, both describing things historically and as though the historical characters are in fact characters of fiction.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

Kitab-I-Yamini: Historical memoirs of the Amir Sabaktugin and the Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna

This is a contemporary chronicle (950s AD) of the first 2 independent rulers of Ghazni (Sebuktigin and Mahmud) and an account of their wars with various Muslim emirs and their invasions of India.

It's a bit of a hard read and I don't expect anyone to, but its quite interesting since these are the words of a man who lived during those times and it gives a good insight into the values and happenings of a time over 1000 years ago.

Ah, cool! I was looking for that book, I didn't know what it was called! Mahmud Ghaznavi is one of my favorite evil invaders!

If you can get your hands on it, I might suggest Harold Lamb's books on the Mongols, Tamerlane, or Crusaders and Saracens. He's a turn of the century writer much like Robert E Howard or maybe HP Lovecraft. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but his writing style is to inject a narrative feeling to the novel, both describing things historically and as though the historical characters are in fact characters of fiction.

Unfortunately, the largest book store in my city doesn't have anything by Harold Lamb. I guess I'll have to make do with Justin Marozzi.