Historian Professor Jonathan Phillips brings to life the story of Sultan Saladin, the leader who defeated the Crusaders and reclaimed Jerusalem for Islam and who inspired respect among his enemies whilst being seen as the greatest jihadist by the Muslim world.

Phillips’s biography is the first of Saladin in 30 years. He explains how Saladin became a chivalric hero to the West and at the same time has been invoked by the likes of Yasser Arafat, Osama bin Laden, Assad, Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein. And he shows how Saladin’s life offers a way to understand the complex world of holy war and the centuries of struggle for Jerusalem.

Phillips is professor of crusading history at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a regular on television and radio. He is also author of The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christianity, The Fourth Crusade and The Sack of Constantinople.