The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin or al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya wa'l-Mahasin al-Yusufiyya by Baha' al-Din Ibn Shaddad

Prize: Winner of the Choice Outstanding Academic title Award. 'This excellent volume is essentially an English translation of Ibn Shaddad's biography... Richards is an accomplished scholar of Arabic, and he has produced a smooth and easy to read translation that rests on a solid scholarly base...will be the English language standard for the foreseeable future. While the general reader can benefit from this book, it belongs in all college and university libraries, especially those that focus on the Christian Crusades and the history of the Middle East during the Middle Ages.' Choice 'The importance of Richards' translation lies in the fact that this crucial text of the Crusading period has now been updated and decisively improved in its English version compared with the 1897 translation, which was rather unreliable. Richards succeeds in rendering the original into an English text which is at the same time a pleasure to read and largely reliable. Compared to the patchy quality of previous translations the author is to be congratulated for this fine piece of Arabist scholarship. The translation gains in significance because it is published in the framework of the Crusade Texts in Translation series as the first Middle Eastern source, which decisively widens the breadth of this series.' Bulletin for the School of Oriental and African Studies '... will be of immense value to non-Arabic readers... an excellent translation of the text... invaluable to students and scholars alike: it is not just an improving and useful read, but a lively and entertaining one as well.' Crusades