Contemporary Representations of the Third Crusade in British and American Texts

This thesis examines six contemporary British and American historical works of the Third Crusade. These works consist of four novels, a play and a film. They are Tariq Ali’s The Book of Saladin (1998), Stewart Binns’s Lionheart (2013), Richard Warren Field’s The Swords of Faith (2010), Kamran Pasha’s Shadow of the Swords (2010), David Eldridge’s Holy Warriors: A Fantasia on the Third Crusade and History of Violent Struggle in the Holy Lands (2014) and Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005). The aim of this thesis is to explore depictions of the current relationships between Islam and the West, particularly with regard to contemporary Western political and military interventionism in Muslim-majority countries and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian issue. Making use of postcolonial approaches, it investigates the influence of Samuel Huntington’s thesis of the “Clash of Civilizations” (1993) and Western media representations of Muslims on contemporary historical fiction, drama and film. The thesis also interrogates the extent to which these works promote or discourage Western military action as a solution to defeat terrorism. It, in addition, explores these works’ engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in light of the ongoing debates about the one-state and two-state settlements. The thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. Chapter One examines two biographical novels of the Third Crusade The Book of Saladin by the Pakistani-British author Tariq Ali and Lionheart by the British author Stewart Binns. Chapter Two examines two post-9/11 historical novels of the Third Crusade The Swords of Faith by the American author Richard Warren Field and Shadow of the Swords by the Pakistani-American author Kamran Pasha. Chapter Three investigates representations of the Third Crusade in drama and film. It examines Holy Warriors: A Fantasia on the Third Crusade and History of Violent Struggle in the Holy Lands by the British playwright David Eldridge and Kingdom of Heaven by the British film director and producer Ridley Scott.