History Book Recommendations
 

I am interested in reading up on two areas where my knowledge is less than it should be:

1. The Crusades
2. The Catholic Church

Does anyone have any suggestions on either one? My first preference would be for a general, non-biased, overall look, but if you know of a particularly good read that covers only part of the topic, I would be interested as well.

SU's book I think is Crusade-ish. I'll let you know when it is coming out.

Everything I know about the Catholic Church I learned from Dan Brown.

Any good history of Europe should cover it. I like the one by J.M. Roberts, but there have been a few recent histories of Europe. The History of Europe and the history of the Catholic Church are pretty much the same thing until the Eighteenth Century, and then there is still much overlap, though receding. You might also read the Inferno, by Dante, one of the greatest works of literature, which contains a great deal of Catholic theology (a good translation will have notes to help you decipher the theology, or you can just enjoy the great poetry/imagery). Specifically as to the Crusades, there have been some recent books issued that received good reviews. I think one is called Crusades. Just go to Amazon and plug in Cursades.

As to the Crusades, I read the English translation of Jean Richard's "The Crusades" in college and thought it was thorough and very accessible. If you can read French, its probably even better in the original. I recommend it without qualification.

http://www.amazon.com/Crusades-c-107...3259548&sr=1-7