The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross (2005)

The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross

A good production. The cinematics and special effects improved the documentary immensely. I wish that there was a little more depth as to how the muslims rose to power in the middle east before the crusades. It would help to clarify the christian views of why going to war was considered necessary. Also a bit more balance of the christian point of view vs. the muslim point of view would have been nice. August 2, 2008

Can You Handle the Truth?

Find out about the Crusades and another reason there's this resentment between the Muslim world against the Westerners.

July 6, 2008

The Crusades

The Crusades is an excellent depiction of the first three crusades. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were extremely brutal periods where brutality often overcame rationalism and reason. The religious fervor which Christian and Muslim alike displayed towards one another is astounding at times, but one side, the Muslims, seem to have held onto the sense of history that Christians have forgotten. The fact that nearly a thousand years after the events began Muslims still talk about crusaders and their wars is testimony that history is alive and well in certain cultures, but nearly dead in others.

That this series only investigates the first three Crusades makes sense when one realizes the other Crusades either failed to get momentum at all, or fizzled before any strategic objectives were realized. This series shows brutality on both sides (Christains are said to have killed nearly everyone, Muslim, Jew and Christian) when the entered Jerusalem at the end of the First Crusade. Christains allegedly ate the victims of one Turkish fortress as a way of intimidation. Muslims brutally killed captured Crusaders when they gained momentum after the Battle of Hattin. In war no side is really "innocent" but one side wins a battle then claims the right to write the history putting its forces in the better light.

This is a two disc set, but the real story is contained on disc one. Disc two is the obligatory "how the film was made" and the necessary interviews of people involved. In other words this could have been half the price and only one disc, but the viewer still would have learned all of the important information presented. March 22, 2008

Somewhat biased History of the Crusades

The History Channel makes fantastic, and well researched videos of history, and this video is no exception. It breaks down each of the various Crusades and brings them to life in an interesting way. Of note however, is the fact that there does seem to have some bias against the writing, and narration against the Christian Crusaders in how they are portrayed and with one of the main "experts" used for commentary. Very little is said or shown about how the Islamic empire forcibly conquered the holy land, yet the Christian attempt to re-take it is shown to be "barbaric" and filled with "war-crimes." The western expert comments on the archeology of the locations, and historical sites, but the Arab "expert" constantly commented with his opinions on how terrible and evil the crusaders were. December 26, 2007

Excellent Documentary

I'm a history buff, so all these THC series are very good.
Highly recommended! October 9, 2007

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