xxii, 374 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : 20 cm

In 1202 Christian armies from Europe set out on the 4th Crusade to liberate the Holy Land. Two years later they sacked Constantinople, the greatest city in the Christian world. This was 'the Crusade that went wrong', a shocking story of high stakes power politics and barbarism cloaked in religious zeal

Originally published: London : Jonathan Cape, 2004

Includes bibliographical references and index

Acknowledgements -- List of illustrations -- A note on nomenclature -- Prologue : the coronation of Emperor Baldwin -- Introduction -- Maps -- 1. The origins and preaching of the fourth crusade, 1187-99 -- 2. Abbot Martin's crusade sermon, Basel cathedral, May 1200 -- 3. The tournament at Ecry, November 1199 -- 4. The treaty of Venice, April 1201 -- 5. Final preparations and leaving home, May 1201-June 1202 -- 6. The crusade at Venice and the siege of Zara, Summer and Autumn 1202 -- 7. The offer from Prince Alexius, December 1202-May 1203 -- 8. The crusade arrives at Constantinople, June 1203 -- 9. The first siege of Constantinople, July 1203 -- 10. Triumph and tensions at Constantinople, July-August 1203 -- 11. The great fire of August 1203 -- 12. The murder of Alexius IV and the descent into war, early 1204 -- 13. The conquest of Constantinople, April 1204 -- 14. The sack of Constantinople, April 1204 -- 15. The end of the fourth crusade and the early years of the Latin Empire, 1204-5 -- 16. The fate of the Latin Empire, 1206-61 -- 17. Afterword -- Chronology -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

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