The story of the medieval world’s most extraordinary organisations, the Assassins and the Templars
The Assassins and the Templars are two of history’s most legendary groups. One was a Shi’ite religious sect, the other a Christian military order created to defend the Holy Land. Violently opposed, they had vastly different reputations, followings, and ambitions. Yet they developed strikingly similar strategies―and their intertwined stories have, oddly enough, uncanny parallels. In this engaging account, Steve Tibble traces the history of these two groups from their origins to their ultimate destruction. He shows how, outnumbered and surrounded, they survived only by perfecting “the promise of death,” either in the form of a Templar charge or an Assassin’s dagger. Death, for themselves or their enemies, was at the core of these extraordinary organisations. Their fanaticism changed the medieval world―and, even up to the present day, in video games and countless conspiracy theories, they have become endlessly conjoined in myth and memory.
Dr Steve Tibble – Biography
Dr Steve Tibble is a graduate of Cambridge and London Universities. He is a research associate at Royal Holloway College, University of London, and on the advisory board for the Humanities at RHUL. He is one of the foremost academics currently working in the field of the crusades.
His latest book, ‘Crusader Criminals – The Knights Who Went Rogue in the Holy Land’ (2024) was published by Yale University Press to wide acclaim and was reprinted within weeks of launch. Media attention has been high profile and extremely positive - BBC History magazine, for example, gave ‘Crusader Criminals’ their front cover and the lead (six page) article inside. Audio book rights were sold before launch.
'Templars - The Knights Who Made Britain' (Yale, 2023), his previous book, was similarly successful. It was reprinted before launch and the print run was increased again soon after. The audio book rights were sold and the BBC were particularly supportive. Steve contributed to four podcasts for their 'First Crusade' series, and made doing a special BBC podcast feature on the mythology surrounding the Templars (December 2023). Media attention was high profile and extremely positive – as with ‘Crusader Criminals’, BBC History magazine gave 'Templars - The Knights Who Made Britain' their front cover and the lead (six page) article inside, while the Mail on Sunday, for example, gave it a full-page review.
Steve’s forthcoming book, 'Assassins and Templars – The Promise of Death', (Yale, 2025) tells the true story behind the hugely popular ‘Assassin’s Creed’ videogame – it is carefully researched and covers new ground, while also appealing to the popular history reader.
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