crusades reconsidered' in The Crusades and Their Sources, ed. J France, W Zajac pp. 71–87 Holt, P M (1986) The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh century to 1517 (Longman, London) Hillenbrand, Carole (1999) The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (Edinburgh University) The Book of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades, trans. Paul M. Cobb. Penguin Classics, 2008. Medieval writers about the Crusades History of the Middle East Syrian literature 12th-century Arabic books Memoirs Medieval Arabic literature Arabic manuscripts Libraries in Spain