This Pocket Essential traces the chronology of the Crusades between 1095 and 1291 and highlights the most important figures on all sides of the conflict. It covers the creation of the kingdom of Jerusalem and the other crusader states and their struggle to survive. It looks at the successes and failures of the Third Crusade and at the legendary figures of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. The book provides essential information about one of the great unifying, and disunifying, forces of medieval Christendom.