Saladin

   Can we all agree that Disney's animated Robin Hood is the second-best Robin Hood, bested only by Robin Hood: Men in Tights?  I've seen three or four Robin Hoods, and I never gave much thought to all the discussion about John trying to capture the throne away from Richard III, who was off fighting in the Crusades.  Maybe it's hard to be too focused on historical realities when you're watching Robin Hood's merry men sing about their tights or you're thinking about the archery skills of an animated fox.  Or maybe I was simply trying to ignore the brutal realities of the Crusades, which surely are at or near the nadir of the faith, with promises of salvation to all who died fighting in the Crusades.

  Somewhere, I'd seen a recommendation of John Man's biography Saladin:  The Sultan who Vanquished the Crusaders and Built an Islamic Empire.  It was a short, quick read, and a fascinating look at those on the other end of the Crusades.  Man paints Saladin as a heroic figure -- not perfect, but able to balance the demands of trying to rule in a dynamic, contested geography while battling the Europeans for rule over Jerusalem and other nearby areas.  Saladin comes off as far less bloodthirsty and more merciful than the Crusaders, who exercise no restraint when fighting for an area.  Saladin takes a longer-term view -- he doesn't want to let a slaughter happen in an area where he'll have to rule, and at other times, he simply doesn't seem interested in exterminating his foes, exercising civility and restraint.  

  Man's biography is a window into a period of history I knew very little about -- I didn't connect this to Robin Hood until close to the end, when Richard III comes to fight for Jerusalem, and I realized that John's attempt to seize the throne was taking place while Saladin was fighting off the Crusaders.  It's well worth the short investment to learn about a time and place that may be a mystery to many.