Accounts of the First Crusade tend to proceed directly from the pope's calls to arms to the drama of the battlefield, but the efforts and intentions of the men and women who left their lands and families behind and marched off to the Holy Land have never been sufficiently understood. Here Christopher Tyerman focuses on the all-encompassing business of actually preparing such a massive campaign. His innovative history considers the daily religious lives of these soldiers while offering an illuminating overview of the era's diplomacy, propaganda, medical care, weapons, and animals, illustrated with 16 pages of color reproductions.

"A quirky niche book that descends into obscure, even humdrum areas and makes them interesting. In the right hands, such a book can be a pleasure. This is the case with How to Plan a Crusade."—NYTBR