NY Times Book Review

There is a review on the NY Times website for a recent book about the Crusades, titled
HOLY WARRIORS: A Modern History of the Crusades. The review was titled Butchers and Saints so read through it, wondering if it was anything worthwhile or just a crowd-pleaser. From the review, it seems to have achieved both. The author, Jonathan Philips, stresses that the crusaders were indeed motivated largely by religious faith, not greed, and that slaughter in God's name was truly believed to have divine approval. Philips apparently makes the historical figures of the time come to life, with descriptions and personalities so appealing that the book sounds more like a historical novel than nonfiction text. The book places a good deal of emphasis on the Muslim perspective, as well. Apparently Philips also describes relatively unknown but influenital personalities on each side, such as Queen Melisende of Jerusalem. It sounds like it could be an interesting counterpart to Thomas F. Madden's The New Concise History of the Crusades. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/books/review/Ormsby-t.html?ref=world