Saladin biography review

Overall, the book is.
In this authoritative biography, historian John Man brings Saladin and his world to life with vivid detail in "a rollicking good story" (Justin Marozzi).
In this authoritative biography, historian John Man brings Saladin and his world to life with vivid detail in a rollicking good story.

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Reviewed by:
Niall Christie
Langara College
niallchristie@yahoo.com

Saladin continues to fascinate. We know simultaneously so much and so little about the most famous Muslim who lived during the crusading period. On the one hand, we have a great deal of information about him in both contemporary and later sources, including biographical works by authors who knew him intimately. On the other hand, the sources that we have are mostly so heavily mediated through the perspectives and agendas of their writers that they make it immensely difficult to discern fact from fiction, and the person from the panegyric (or polemic).

This is the third book review that I have written about a modern biography of Saladin. The first book, Saladin, by Anne-Marie Eddé, was outstanding. The second, Saladin: The Sultan who Vanquished the Crusaders and Built an Islamic Empire, by John Man, was abysmal. Phillip's work, which is both a biography and an exploration of the sultan's posthumous impact in both east and west, is a comprehensively-researched, engagingly-written and thoughtful d

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Review of John Man, Saladin: The Life, the Legend and the Islamic Empire (Bantam, 2015), in Royal Studies Journal Vol. 2 No. 2, 2015

2015 II Saladin: The Life, Legend and the Islamic Empire, J. Man (London: Bantam Press, 2015) Review by: Stephen Donnachie Review: Saladin: The Life, the Legend and the Islamic Empire Saladin: The Life, the Legend and the Islamic Empire. By John Man. London: Bantam Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-593-07372-8. xiii + 287 pp. £20. S aladin is a historical figure whose actions in life created a far greater legend after his death. This legend makes Saladin a hero of fantasy, embodying all the noble virtues we desire, as much as a hero in historical reality. It is through this legend that Saladin has come to be known by so many making him readily identifiable as the hero of Islam. Even beyond the Muslim world to those unfamiliar with the medieval Middle East or the histories of the Crusades his legend ensures premier placement on a list of characters. It is through the context of this legend that John Man has now produced a readily accessible and engaging biogr

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The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin

The book is, first, a conventional biography, superbly researched and enormously entertaining. That by itself would make this one of the outstanding books of the year. But Phillips also addresses that enduring adoration of Saladin by offering an analysis of cultural memory. The topic of memory is popular among historians at present, but their treatment of it is often so laden with arcane jargon and theory that it becomes incomprehensible. Phillips, in contrast, is clear, concise and illuminating, shedding light on animosities in the Middle East today.

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... learned and engaging ... there are two Saladins, the 12th-century ruler and the equally historical subsequent political and literary invention. Not the least virtue of The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin is Mr. Phillips’s wide-ranging scrutiny of both. Saladin’s achievements as a Kurdish mercenary captain who founded an empire are startling on any scale—the result of skill and luck, as well as the fluid political and social se