This is followed by a discussion of life in castles, something that is likely to be of interest to the reader (3). After that the author talks about how the castles were built and the sorts of qualities in terrain and location that the Crusaders preferred when building their castles, which the author admires as being generally strong and well-sited (2). The book begins with a discussion of the castle builders of the Crusades and how it was and where it was that the Western Europeans brought their expertise in building fortresses into their conquests during the First Crusade and after that (1). This book is a short one at a bit more than 50 pages in length and is divided into five chapters. It should be noted that one of the obvious strategies of a nation which has demographic weaknesses (as was definitely the case for the Crusader states) is to build strongholds in immensely defensible areas to use in order to preserve one's strength and allow one safe bases for raiding and avoiding the efforts of stronger nations. This is a thought well worth keeping in mind, because the ability of the Crusader states to build fortresses of such might is something that came directly from their own experience of war. While we are used to thinking of the Crusades as a failure, the author makes a sound point that the ability of the Crusaders to successfully besiege fortresses as well as to build fortresses that were able to resist the efforts of the surrounding Muslim states allowed the Crusader states the ability to hold onto territory far more effectively than would have been the case had the Crusader states been forced to survive based on their armies alone. The author of this book makes a strong case for the vital importance of fortification design for the relative longevity of the Crusader states in the Outremer.
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