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From Michael Haag, bestselling author of *The Templars: The History and the Myth*, comes *The Tragedy of the Templars*, an exciting new look at the rise of Templar power and the saga of their destruction. Founded on Christmas Day 1119 in Jerusalem, the Knights Templar was a religious order dedicated to defending the Holy Land and its Christian pilgrims in the decades after the First Crusade. Legendary for their bravery and dedication, the Templars became one of the wealthiest and most powerful bodies of the medieval world—and the chief defenders of Christian society against growing Muslim forces. In *The Tragedy of the Templars: The Rise and Fall of the Crusader States*, Haag masterfully details the conflicts and betrayals that sent this faction of powerful knights spiraling from domination to condemnation. This stirring and thoroughly researched work of historical investigation includes maps and full-color photographs of important cultural sites, many of which doubled as battlefields during the Crusades. ** ### From Publishers Weekly Romanticized and demonized since the Middle Ages, the legendary Knights Templar devoted their lives to Christ as a military force sanctioned by the papacy to liberate and defend the then-predominantly Christian city of Jerusalem. Haag (The Templars: The History & the Myth) explores their evolution from 12th-century protectors of pilgrims trekking to the Holy Land to wealthy Crusaders frequently at war with Islamic forces across the Middle East and the Iberian peninsula. Throughout, the book suffers from one-sidedness: the author consistently characterizes the Muslims as brutal and vengeful, whereas the Templars are given relatively generous treatment as brave messengers of progress and development. Still, Haag's account sparkles with fascinating ephemera, as when he quotes a 12th-century narrative of the creation of the myth of the Holy Grail, or when he describes the game-changing moves of the bold queen Eleanor of Aquitaine or the greedy, villainous Philip IV. The Templars were eventually defeated by the Muslims, but it was their own religious kin that brought them down: rumors of heresy and bizarre initiation rites were rampant, and Pope Clement—under the orders of Philip IV—finally disbanded the Templars in the 14th century. A dense and entertaining volume especially suited for those already interested in the order. 3 maps. Agent: George Lucas, Inkwell Management. (Aug.) ### From Booklist Their formal name shortened from the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, the Templars were the elite military force of the Christian states established by the Crusades. Haag’s history of the Templars prefaces the organization with the origins of the First Crusade, which in 1099 reclaimed Jerusalem for Christianity. Travel to the Holy Land nevertheless remained dangerous, and providing protection to pilgrims was one reason the pope sanctioned the Templars. The order’s ensuing growth into a religious army reigns as the theme of Haag’s account, which covers the Templars’ role in the wars between Christendom and Islam. But beyond spiritual fervor and organizational discipline, landholdings and banking operations underlay the corporate success of the order. Wealth also, Haag recounts, contributed to the Templars’ ultimate downfall. Having lost its military justification to exist with the final extinction of the Crusader states in 1291, the order’s assets were snatched by the king of France, leaving the pope to abolish the Templars in 1312. In league with The Crusades (2010), by Thomas Asbridge, Haag’s work will pique the interest of medievalists. --Gilbert Taylor