The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the Crusades is a journey into the clash between Christianity and Islam in a two-hundred-year battle for the soul of man and the profits of trade. It was a time when western civilization brought the world such items as chastity belts, razors, stained glass, perfume, gunpowder, the compass, and even public latrines. The book will record every step of this 1,000-mile journey: the epic battles of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Acre and, ultimately, the battle for the souls of all men. It was a war that, in many ways, is still being fought today in various spots on the globe.