The extraordinary character & career of Saladin are the keys to understanding the Battle of Hattin the fall of Jerusalem & the failure of the Third Crusade. He united warring Muslim lands reconquered the bulk of Crusader states & faced the Richard the Lion Heart king of England in one of the most famous confrontations in medieval warfare. Geoffrey Hindley's sympathetic & highly readable study of the life & times of this remarkable many-sided man who dominated the Middle East in his day gives a fascinating insight into his achievements & into the Muslim world of his contemporaries. Geoffrey Hindley is a distinguished medieval historian who has written widely on many aspects of the period. He has made a special study of medieval warfare & of sieges in particular. His previous books include Castles of Europe Medieval Warfare England in the Age of Caxton Under Siege Tourists Travellers & Pilgrims The Book of Magna Carta & The Crusades. His most recent publications are is A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons & Medieval Siege & Siegecraft.