Knight Hospitaller (1): 1100 1306

This book is a hardcover edition of Osprey's twin warrior titles on the Knights Hospitaller - unfortunately lacking in the color plates. It details the origins, equipment, battle tactics, and daily life of these Knights from their orgins as an order of charitable, hospital-running monks in Jerusalem to their days as a band of pirates harassing the Ottoman Empire throughout the Mediterranean. Overall it makes for informative reading, though it is written by the unsympathetic, Islamophilic David Nicolle.

KNIGHTS OF JERUSALEM: THE CRUSADING ORDER OF HOSPITALLERS 1100-1565 provides a review of one of the more famous Crusading orders of medieval times. It considers the lives and military roles of the Knights Hospitaller in detail from their origins to their many conflicts. Black and white illustrations and color photos and drawings throughout spice a lively survey especially recommended for high school to college-level collections strong in medieval history.

The Knights Hospitaller is one of the Ospery warrior collection and it is a wealth of information on the who, what, where and why of the Knights Hospitaller, the lesser known but equally important order of knights that fought for the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Cursades. Do not let the comic book look fool you the illustrations are just a minor part of the excellent writing, research information and pictures that the authors put into place for their work. It is a must for anyone who wants the most accurat information on the oldest surviving western military order.

A great buy for people trying to understand the fighting order of the Hospitaller. It details the castles they possessed during the crusades and their battles against the islamic knigdoms. The book itself starts with the foundation of the order in 1080 and then goes on to explain their tactics and strategies in holding on to their claims in Jerusalem. In the begining of the book is a detailed layout of the timeline of the order and like all other osprey books it contains 10 well drawn and fully colored pages of the equipment and dress of the Knights.This is a great book for artist's trying to draw these knights and for historians who want to find out more about the the Order of the Hospital of St.John or simply put the Hospitallers, and the artist herself should get a reward for the stunning accuricy and talent put in the pictures.