The Crusades, the thrilling adventure of those Christians who accepted the call of the Pope and entered the game, feeling its charm, doing things that seem excessively debatable to us with our current values and, conversely, seemed holy to them. It is a fact that the Muslims did not remain indifferent to the invasion of the crusading armies of the "infidels" who were coming from who knows where, sowing destruction and devastation.
The Crusades, which the distinguished Italian historian and author Alessandro Barbero narrates in a direct and brilliant way, are tremendous explosions of violence, a sui generis example of a pilgrimage journey, a safety valve for an overpopulated Europe. But it is also the moment when two opposing worlds, unaware that they have deep common roots, meet and describe each other.