AS A HISTORY WRITER I am totally indebted to the historians who have done so much to make the source materials available to we more linguistically challenged mortals. On a more personal level I would like to give thanks both to Dr David Morgan for introducing me, as an undergraduate, to the Assassins, Saljuqs and Mongols and to Dr Michael Brett for his lectures on the Fatimids and the Crusades period.the Assassins, Saljuqs and Mongols and to Dr Michael Brett for his lectures on the Fatimids and the Crusades period.the Assassins, Saljuqs and Mongols and to Dr Michael Brett for his lectures on the Fatimids and the Crusades period.the Assassins, Saljuqs and Mongols and to Dr Michael Brett for his lectures on the Fatimids and the Crusades period.
I would also like to thank Dr Abbas Khosravi and Mr Hamid Reza Ebrahimi for their superbly skilled calligraphy for the book’s frontispiece that has brought Omar Khayyam’s poem to life in the original Farsi.
One final thank you goes to Dr Brian Williams, formerly of the School of Oriental and African Studies, for his encouraging response after my first book The Knights of Islam was published. I remember his lectures, during my university years, being both erudite and enthusiastic and stirring a desire in me to bring Islamic history, and in particular the military history of the medieval Middle East, to a wider audience.
Once again I must thank my dear wife, Michele, for her forbearance at having Mongols, Mamluks, Crusaders and Assassins as permanent houseguests for these last two years and as visitors to our life together for far too long.