THE KNIGHTS OF ISLAM: THE WAR OF THE MAMLUKS

Author: James Waterson

Publisher: Greenhill Books

Year published: 2007

Pagination: 304pp, 6 maps, 37 colour & b/w ilustrations

Condition: good in plastic sleeved d/w. trace of previous owner's inscription

---

From the seventh century through to the middle ages the Mamluks were the greatest body of fighting men in the world and the quintessence of the mounted warrior. They were slave soldiers, imported as boys into the Islamic Empire from the pagan Steppes, but they became its saviour, defeating the Mongols and forming the machine of jihad that destroyed the Crusader kingdoms of Palestine and Syria. After bloodily seizing power from their masters, the descendants of Saladin, they developed a martial code and an honour system based on barracks brotherhood.