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Saladin in His Time
Honored by Christian and Muslim alike, celebrated by Dante and Sir Walter Scott, Saladin reigns as the most famous of all Islamic heroes. As sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine, he achieved great success in the wars against the crusaders--particularly with his capture of Jerusalem. And, his disciplined army stood in marked contrast to the Christians, who slaughtered indiscriminately following their victory in 1099. This thoroughly researched biography shows Saladin as a skillful diplomat, a generous but firm ruler, and a deeply religious man...who tragically died without enough money to pay for his own grave.
210 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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About the author
P.H. Newby
32 books22 followersPercy Howard Newby CBE (25 June 1918 – 6 September 1997) was an English novelist and broadcasting administrator. He was the first winner of the Booker Prize, his novel Something to Answer For having received the inaugural award in 1969.
Early life
P.H. Newby, known as Howard Newby, was born in Crowborough, Sussex on 25 June 1918 and was educated at Hanley Castle Grammar School in Worcestershire, and St Paul's College of Education in Cheltenham. In October 1939 he was sent to France to serve in World War II as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His unit was one of the last to be evacuated. Afterwards he was sent to the Middle East and served in the Egyptian desert.
Career
Newby was released from military service in December 1942, and then taught English Literature at King Fouad University in Cairo until 1946.
From 1949 to 1978 he was employed by the BBC, beginning as a radio producer and going on to become successively Controller of the Third Programme and Radio Three, Director of Programmes (Radio), and finally Managing Director, BBC Radio.
His first novel, A Journey into the Interior, was published in 1946. He then returned to England to write. In the same year he was given an Atlantic Award in literature, and two years thence he received the Somerset Maugham Prize.
He was awarded a CBE for his work as Managing Director of BBC Radio.
Author, friend and colleague Anthony Thwaite in his obituary states: "P. H. Newby was one of the best English novelists of the second half of the century."
Early life
P.H. Newby, known as Howard Newby, was born in Crowborough, Sussex on 25 June 1918 and was educated at Hanley Castle Grammar School in Worcestershire, and St Paul's College of Education in Cheltenham. In October 1939 he was sent to France to serve in World War II as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His unit was one of the last to be evacuated. Afterwards he was sent to the Middle East and served in the Egyptian desert.
Career
Newby was released from military service in December 1942, and then taught English Literature at King Fouad University in Cairo until 1946.
From 1949 to 1978 he was employed by the BBC, beginning as a radio producer and going on to become successively Controller of the Third Programme and Radio Three, Director of Programmes (Radio), and finally Managing Director, BBC Radio.
His first novel, A Journey into the Interior, was published in 1946. He then returned to England to write. In the same year he was given an Atlantic Award in literature, and two years thence he received the Somerset Maugham Prize.
He was awarded a CBE for his work as Managing Director of BBC Radio.
Author, friend and colleague Anthony Thwaite in his obituary states: "P. H. Newby was one of the best English novelists of the second half of the century."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 25, 2012
I first learned about Saladin in my middle school Social Studies class. It was a lame class, and didn't do anything taught in it justice, especially not Saladin. As we learned about the Crusades I found myself rooting for Saladin rather than the Crusaders, who might be considered "my side". I was therefore delighted to find a biography of him on the shelves of my local library.
Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to expectations. I haven't read any other biographies of Saladin--not even his Wikipedia page--so maybe this is the biography of him there is. It does have rather high reviews here on GR. But I found it rather dry. None of the people sprang from the pages, not even Saladin himself; none of them seemed real or human, just names from a textbook. And so many names! Without any personality to distinguish them, all the names just blurred together.
Newby often used convoluted sentences and confusing pronouns that left me uncertain of who did what. Also, his statements--notably that Saladin was a selfless man who wanted no power for himself and was always faithful to the Caliph--are often at odds with the actions he describes. Now, I'm no expert historian to draw conclusions about the motivations of long-dead men, but I really with Newby had treated these discrepancies with more depths--or even discussed them at all.
In retrospect, I'm pretty surprised I even finished this book. If you really want to learn more about Saladin I suppose it's a decent source, but if you're just reading for fun I'd pass this one by.
Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to expectations. I haven't read any other biographies of Saladin--not even his Wikipedia page--so maybe this is the biography of him there is. It does have rather high reviews here on GR. But I found it rather dry. None of the people sprang from the pages, not even Saladin himself; none of them seemed real or human, just names from a textbook. And so many names! Without any personality to distinguish them, all the names just blurred together.
Newby often used convoluted sentences and confusing pronouns that left me uncertain of who did what. Also, his statements--notably that Saladin was a selfless man who wanted no power for himself and was always faithful to the Caliph--are often at odds with the actions he describes. Now, I'm no expert historian to draw conclusions about the motivations of long-dead men, but I really with Newby had treated these discrepancies with more depths--or even discussed them at all.
In retrospect, I'm pretty surprised I even finished this book. If you really want to learn more about Saladin I suppose it's a decent source, but if you're just reading for fun I'd pass this one by.
February 21, 2021
Excellent little book about this great General, and about his time, too.
The only problem is to do with names, and denominations, which are hard to keep track of, resemble one another, are extraordinarily long and therefore difficult to remember (for this non-Arabic reader) - nothing the writer could do really.
Neat.
The only problem is to do with names, and denominations, which are hard to keep track of, resemble one another, are extraordinarily long and therefore difficult to remember (for this non-Arabic reader) - nothing the writer could do really.
Neat.
August 12, 2017
Interesting history I was unaware of for the most part.
March 25, 2025
Learned a lot, but it is not written in an easy style.
November 23, 2013
this was a good book to be introduced to Saladin's world and i found out a lot of information i didn't know before hand. over all a good solid book with a good narrative of Saladin's life
August 14, 2014
صلاح الدين بعيون أوربية !
كتاب جيد يستحق القراءة .
كتاب جيد يستحق القراءة .
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews