Steven Runciman's triumphant three-volume A History of the Crusadesremains an unsurpassed account of the events that changed the world and continue to resonate today. This final volume of the trilogy begins with the glamorous Third Crusade and ends with the ruinous collapse of the crusader states and the degeneration of their ideals, which reached its nadir in the tragic destruction of Byzantium.

Sir Steven Runciman (1903-2000) was one of the greatest British historians. He drastically recast how we think about both the Crusades and the history of Byzantium. His major works include The Sicilian Vespers (1958), The Great Church in Captivity (1968), Byzantine Style and Civilization (1975) and Mistra (1980).