Lionhearts: Richard I, Saladin, and the Era of the Third Crusade by Geoffrey Regan Search Amazon for other books by or about Geoffrey Regan. Rating: Reviewed by: David Smillie

Truth, it's been famously remarked, is stranger than fiction. And sometimes it's just plain better . Take the case of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. I've always been more-or-less horrified by the Crusades. I saw them from a modern viewpoint, as a horrific waste of life and resources, an act of cultural imperialism, and a display of the worst elements of human nature.

But ...

It also brought to the forefront two utterly dominant personalities. Two men who seemed to sum up all that was best (and only occasionally worst) of the age. In the Muslim-Christian conflict of the Third Crusade, Richard and Saladin stand alone. While their personalities and tactics have been endlessly analyzed and re-analyzed over the years, they still hold the power to fascinate us.

Saladin, the great Kurdish leader, almost wiped the Holy Land free of Christians. He managed to unify the disparate elements that made up Islam and bind them together into an unstoppable force through the power of his personality and leadership. He was a great general, but also capable of acts of incredible generosity and magnanimity. He was the personification of chivalry, impressing Muslim and Christian chroniclers alike with his largeness of spirit. But his strengths became his weaknesses. It was the force of his personality that held together the fragile Muslim alliance. And without him, it fractured.

Richard, his opposite number, was the personification of the crusading ideal. A mighty warrior and brilliant tactician. He was capable of inspiring his men and terrifying his enemies. Chroniclers on both sides were filled with stories of his personal bravery and the ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He brought the Christian forces as close as they'd come to re-taking the Holy Land. But his very success and personality caused divisions in the Crusading army, leading to splits that would ultimately destroy their cause (and make him enemies that would land him in a prison on his way home).

Most of the books on Saladin and Richard have chosen to set up one as the hero, with the other the worthy adversary. Geoffrey Regan takes a slightly different and highly effective) tack. In his view, both Saladin and Richard are the heroes. The villains are almost everyone else. Rather than try to set up the two in a false dichotomy against each other, he uses the venality of the crusaders as a foil for Richard, and timorousness of the Muslim army as a foil for Saladin. One could argue that the resulting portrayal isn't entirely accurate, in that it makes out Saladin and Richard to be greater, nobler than they really were. But they are two dominant figures who still captivate and mystify us across the ages.

Regan's book is a wonderful explanation of how the time was ripe for the creation of dominant personalities, and how these two men rose to dominate the world and defeat every opponent, except each other.

It's a wonderful read, not as intense or difficult to follow as many histories of the Crusades, and I can recommend it wholeheartedly.