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God's Wolf: The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders, Scourge of Saladin Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 159 ratings
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In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves. An epic saga set in the midst of a violent clash of civilizations, God's Wolf tells the story of Reynald's staggering rise from lowly soldier to prince of Antioch, one of the crusader kingdoms in the Near East. Jeffrey Lee argues that, despite his brutality, Reynald was a strong military leader and an effective statesman who defended his kingdom against attacks from Byzantines, Armenians, and Muslims. A tale of faith, fanaticism, and brutality, God's Wolf is the fascinating story of an exceptional Crusader and a provocative reinterpretation of the Crusader era.

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  1. Listening Length
    8 hours and 40 minutes
  2. Author
    Jeffrey Lee
  3. Narrator
    Nigel Patterson
  4. Audible release date
    August 8, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
  7. ASIN
    B0747XGY95
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 8 hours and 40 minutes
Author Jeffrey Lee
Narrator Nigel Patterson
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date August 08, 2017
Publisher HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0747XGY95
Best Sellers Rank #307,095 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#577 in History of Christianity (Audible Books & Originals)
#1,201 in Historical Middle East Biographies
#1,699 in Historical Biographies (Audible Books & Originals)

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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Customers find the book well-researched and informative. They appreciate the original sources and writing style. The book is interesting to them as it details their great-grandfather's life.

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Customers like the history quality.

"This book is that rare achievement - an excellent factual history book that is also exciting and well-written...." Read more

"Very readable and enjoyable history." Read more

"Excellent history" Read more

3 customers mention "Information quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting. They say it's well-researched and argued, with original sources.

"...Well-doicumented with original sources, God's Wolf puts Reynald at the centre of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century...." Read more

"...It’s interesting to me in particular because he was my 24-great -grandfather and having said that I take no pride in him...." Read more

"It's an informative book but does require the reader to have some knowledge of the crusades beforehand." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written. They appreciate the author's accurate portrayal of Reynald's life.

"...- an excellent factual history book that is also exciting and well-written...." Read more

"...The author demonstrates correctly that he wasn’t really different than anyone else in his generation. Perhaps, but that doesn’t make him good...." Read more

"Very readable and enjoyable history." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Longview
    5.0 out of 5 stars First class history which changed my view of the crusades. Informative, original and exciting.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This book is that rare achievement - an excellent factual history book that is also exciting and well-written. Parts of it read like a blood and guts adventure story, but at the same time it is an original, well-researched and argued work of scholarship.

    The story begins in 2010 when Al-Qaida addressed a bomb to a long-dead crusader knight, Reynald de Chatillon. Long derided by Western and Muslim historians alike, God's Wolf tells the remarkable tale of Reynald's life, and you learn why he is still hated by Islamist fanatics 800 years after his death.

    Reynald turns out to have been a key figure in the crusading period. A violent, ruthless and effective soldier, he was notorious for his excesses against friend and foe alike. He is still the only Christian to lead an attack towards Islam's holy places in Arabia, a campaign which has led to him being vilified by Muslims ever since.

    From an obscure background, Reynald rose to marry princesses, make kings and lead crusader forces in their greatest victory against the might Muslim leader Saladin. Well-doicumented with original sources, God's Wolf puts Reynald at the centre of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. Indeed the book explains the whole history of the period from a fresh angle and in an exciting and accessible way. It leaves you wanting more from this author.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • gary harper
    5.0 out of 5 stars All that and a large bag of chips!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Had long looked for more info on Reynald of Chatillon, It really fleshed out him out, particularly as I had never realized what a integral part of the crusader effort he had been. Main thing that I had always been curious about was his construction of the modular boats that he used in an attempt to further his depredations of his enemies. Loads of real info on a actual person who had to be one of the most prolific warriors in a career that spanned several decades. He was really something to still be waging war at his advanced age by the time of his demise at the Hours of Hattin. The "Kingdom of Heaven" did him little justice as I learned him to be a tenacious and savvy competitor.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Craig Cowing
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad
    Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2021
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    Overall this is a well- written account Reynald’s life. It’s interesting to me in particular because he was my 24-great -grandfather and having said that I take no pride in him. The author demonstrates correctly that he wasn’t really different than anyone else in his generation. Perhaps, but that doesn’t make him good. In attempting to place him in context, which is well done overall, the author risks portraying him as “not that bad. “ Certainly cruelty was a hallmark of the age demonstrated by acts such as Richard I catapulting decapitated Muslim heads over the walls of Acre.

    One minor but annoying thing. More than once the author uses the word “reticence” when he wants to say “hesitation “ or “reluctance. “ An editor should have caught this careless slip in word usage. The two words don’t mean the same thing. “Reticence” means a reluctance to speak. It is not a synonym of “hesitant.”
    One person found this helpful
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  • joeblaine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Quality
    Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2021
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    The product was well priced was in perfect condition and arrived very quickly
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  • Cigire
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2016
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    Very readable and enjoyable history.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • ChilliDogg
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019
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    Great book! I would recommend this to anyone who is needing a good boon to read.
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  • Kevin J Kearney
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    It's an informative book but does require the reader to have some knowledge of the crusades beforehand.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Wolf
    Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Very happy
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Jenny
    5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing, gripping story of a Knight.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This absorbing and engaging book tells the story of Reynald de Chatillon. A knight who started out from well-born but financially insecure beginnings (in that, his older brother inherited the money) and ended up taking the Cross and becoming a Crusader. What follows is a truly amazing story of a man very much of his time, a full-time knight, a killer, a man breed for war and glory. The author is fair in his analysis, explaining the bias of sources and admitting at times of Reynalds dubious actions (such as his attack on Cyprus, where he slaughtered other Christians). Yet, there's a lot to admire about him. His long captivity as a prisoner of his Muslim foe, his skill in battle, even his knack for organizing marriages. I found myself rooting for Reynald right to the end. To modern eyes the man was a killer, perhaps even an 'evil' man but that doesn't mean we can't identify qualities to admire. He never backed down, he held fast, he certainly wasn't a coward.
    The author contrasts Reynald with his rival, Raymond of Tripoli, and shows that Raymond was actually the weaker of the two in terms of character. Raymond was always on the make for himself and was even willing to turn traitor to save himself and increase his own power. He made an alliance with the enemy, turned traitor, and helped condemn his own side to defeat at the Battle of Hattin. Just like the author, I am not sure why history hasn't condemned the traitorous Raymond just as much if not more than, Reynald. We are offered answers, the bias of the sources, and subsequent historians. There is however one thing that can't be forgotten. It was not the 'done thing' to execute leaders during the Crusades (that is, to kill them off the field of battle), and the fact that Reynald was dealt with in such a way can only be evidence of just how effective he was. As the author notes, he was simply too dangerous to be kept alive.
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  • Spruce 40
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting biography.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2024
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    Purchased as a future read.
    Certainly interesting.
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  • JPS
    4.0 out of 5 stars Journalistic and spirited revisionism
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Contrary to what a rather negative interpretation of the title of this review might suggest, this is an interesting book, and at times a fascinating and excellent one. It also has, however, a number of flaws which, unfortunately, tend to undermine the author’s thesis and make it at least partly unconvincing.

    This book is an attempt to write a biography and rehabilitate Reynald de Châtillon, one of the most (and probably even the most) controversial of all Crusader leaders. It is not, however, the first attempt to do so. Hamilton, in his book on Baldwin IV, in “the Leper King (of Jerusalem) and his Heirs” (2000) had already showed that Reynald was not the “arch-villain” that he has been portrayed to be. Pierre Aubé (a French historian of the Crusades) has also written a biography on the Leper King (in 1981) and one on Reynald (or Renauld) de Châtillon (in 2007), among other books on the Crusades, in which he strives to achieve a more balanced assessment of the Frankish warlord. Unfortunately, none of his books and especially not his “Un Croisé contre Saladin” (A Crusader against Saladin) have been translated in English. The first point here is that Jeffrey Lee is not exactly breaking new ground. Although both books are mentioned in his bibliography, only Hamilton’s is referred to in the main text, although the strategic motivations of Reynald’s desert and Red Sea raids Which Jeffrey Lee tends to wax lyrical about, can be found in Aubé.

    A second point is that this book is “journalistic”, with this having both positive and negative connotations. The positive elements are that this account is eminently readable. It has an exciting story to tell and it reads (almost) as a novel. The problem here is that the author is not exactly writing a piece of history anymore. There is, for instance, no evidence for Reynald’s presence at Vezelay where the call for the Second Crusade was preached; although the author feels that he was “almost certainly among the passionate crowd”. He also shows a strong tendency to exaggerate for dramatic effect, at the risk of introducing either inaccuracies, or even mistakes. A number of these appear in the book’s very first chapter and there are more strewn across the book.

    To mention just a few examples, the civilization of Islam was not “expanding” by the time of the Crusades (first page of the Introduction), quite the opposite in fact since Toledo (in 1085 Spain) has been lost and would never be reconquered by the various Muslim powers and Sicily had finally be entirely conquered by Roger de Hauteville in 1091. I am not at all sure that Richard the Lionheart’s “mere presence terrorized armies” either. Then there are exaggerations pertaining to Reynald himself. He clearly was reviled by Christians and both feared and hated “as a Muslim bogeyman”, for reasons that I will come back to in this review and which the author does present rather well. However, presenting him as “the most effective and ruthless military opponent of the Muslims, particularly of Saladin, who has been elevated in posterity to almost saintly status” is one of these sweeping statements that smacks of exaggeration. He was certainly ruthless, although his effectiveness is more questionable.

    Also rather surprising – and probably a step too far in this spirited effort to rehabilitate the “scapegoat” is to present Reynald as “an embodiment of the chivalric ideal”, especially when the author’s narrative clearly contradicts such a sweeping statement. The episode when Reynald chained and tortured the (Frankish) Patriarch of Antioch who happened to have the bad taste to both oppose him and be very rich when he was Prince of Antioch does not exactly correspond to “chivalric ideal”, neither does his pillaging and looting of Cyprus (an island in the hands of the Byzantine Empire). This is regardless of whatever excuses the author tries to conjure, such as others – and his stepson in particular - doing similar things, although not quite so extreme and in somewhat difference circumstances.

    Moreover, the author makes more sweeping and spirited statements about Reynald by stating that “above all, he was loyal, he was brave and he was a soldier, well versed in war. Again, each of these statements should to be strongly qualified, and are not, because none of them tell the whole story. The problem here is that, once again, the author is being seriously biased to the extent that his case becomes unconvincing. This is largely because, in his spirited attempt to correct previous biases, he tends to go “to the other extreme” at the risk of making rather dubious claims.

    The claim to loyalty is made by claiming that, as Prince of Antioch, he held it together and defended it successfully on behalf of his stepson for about eight years (1153-1161), and at least as successfully as his predecessor Raymond de Poitiers, and that, as Prince of Outrejourdain, he also successfully defended the South-Eastern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem for more than a decade, played the leading role in an almost miraculous victory in 1177 and seriously damaged Saladin’s credibility because of his disrupting raids against Moslem pilgrims to Mecca.

    First, Reynald’s defence of Antioch was clearly not disinterested. He got himself captured during what seems to have been a rather unnecessary and poorly planned raid after eight years of rule, depriving Antioch of its defender, whereas Raymond de Poitiers reigned thirteen years before getting himself trapped and killed with a large part of Antioch’s army. Claiming that Reynald was at least as successful because he did not manage to get as many men slaughtered by his blunder is a rather dubious way of ascertaining that he did at least as well.

    Second, Reynald did break a truce made by the King of Jerusalem with Saladin at least once and maybe even more than once. While the author attempts to justify this by stating that others, including the Kings of Jerusalem and most of their enemies (Saladin included) also broke truces, this is simply beside the point and a very unconvincing argument. The problem here is that, as a vassal to the King off Jerusalem, Reynald was bound by the truce, and by breaking it, he was in fact reneging on his oath of loyalty and fealty to his liege lord, something that the author is careful not to discuss. The fact that others – and Raymond III Count of Tripoli in particular – also behaved in ways that were borderline to put it very mildly, or seen as “traitorous”, to use the author’s terms cannot excuse Reynald’s own breach or breaches)

    This leads to the two other claims made by the author about being a soldier well versed in war and being brave. A less biased discussion and assessment would have concluded that however much experience Reynald had of warfare; he was not a “soldier” in the common sense of the term. He was, however, a warlord, and a particularly headstrong one since he seems to have had much difficulty in obeying orders that he disagreed with. He was certainly a capable warlord and he had a clear grasp of strategy. Rather than the “fanatic” Crusader that he has been portrayed to be, he may have been driven by arrogance (of the “I am right and everyone else in wrong” type!) – a point that the author does not really emphasise as much as he could - or perhaps even should - have and, perhaps, by hate and a need for retribution following his fifteen years of captivity in Alep – this point is however somewhat “over-emphasised” including modern references to “post-traumatic stress disorder”.

    There is however not much evidence that Reynald spent the whole fifteen years of his captivity chained to the wall and ill-treated in an unhealthy dungeon, contrary to what the author seems to imply. To the extent that he had value as a prisoner, it is more likely that his treatment improved over time. There is, however, also no evidence that he ever broke, gave in to despair and accepted to convert to Islam and in this respect, at least, he certainly has a valid claim to being brave.

    Some of his other actions, however, may smack of recklessness at least as much (or perhaps even rather than) bravery. This is particularly the case of his ill-fated raid with only a handful of men when, as Prince of Antioch, he got him captured. The exact circumstances of this raid are a bit unclear. I am not quite sure why Reynald would have had some 500 infantry accompanying only 120 horsemen. The infantry would be more of a handicap rather than anything else if the purpose was a swift raid to rustle flocks and herds of sheep and cattle, as the author seems to imply and, if the numbers and types of troops are correct and the infantry was on foot (and not mounted), this would hardly show up Reynald’s military capabilities.

    Rather than brave, Reynald seems to have been defiant and arrogant. He defied just about everybody who disagreed with him, including his own liege lords the Emperor Manuel and the Baldwin IV King of Jerusalem, his peers (starting with Raymond III of Tripoli) and, of course, his enemies, and Saladin in particular. His last defiance towards Saladin, sometimes portrayed as “heroic”, may have been that, although both Saladin and himself knew that he would not survive as a prisoner because Saladin could simply not let him live after what he had done and after vowing to kill him multiple times.

    His role in the victory of Mont Gisard (November 1177) is perhaps one of the most interesting sections of the book. Here is perhaps another example of Jeffrey Lee’s techniques, exaggerations and contradictions, with both excellent points and rather controversial ones being made such as his claim that Reynald won what “was perhaps the greatest victory won by a Frankish army in the history of crusading in the Levant” and which “ranks with the decisive battles at Doryleum and Antioch during the First Crusade.”

    The first point is to what extent the victory was due to Reynald. As Jeffrey Lee shows rather excellently throughout his book, the two main Frankish sources - William of Tyre and Ernoul – were both mostly hostile to Reynaud. The patron of the first was Raymond III Count of Tripoli and the patrons of the second was the powerful Ibelin feudal clan. Both, as well shown by Jeffrey Lee, were part of the faction that Reynald opposed. Both authors have very little if anything to say about Reynald’s role in the campaign and rather desperate battle that took place, with one only mentioning his presence. Largely because of this, the credit for the victory is usually and almost entirely given to Baldwin the Leper, despite his age and lack of experience (he was about seventeen) and his condition. It is far more likely Reynald should receive at least part of the credit, although perhaps not all of it, contrary to the author’s claim, especially since he was in effect the senior commander of the little Frankish cavalry army that surprised and routed Saladin’s disorganised but very much larger force.

    The second point is that after hyping up the event, the author clearly shows, in the very same chapter, to what extent Mont Gisard was not strategically decisive. It almost certainly saved the Kingdom but, contrary to either Doryleum, which ended the Seljuk threat to the First Crusade, or Antioch, which also ensured the survival of the Frist Crusade and ensured that Antioch would remain in their hands, Mont Gisars only bought time, although quite a lot of it (a decade in fact). Also good, but in contradiction with some of his previous sweeping claims, are the author’s explanations as to why this victory was not exploited. One point is that it was a bit of “pyrrhic” victory, with heavy losses among the knights (perhaps as many as a third or even half of those that were engaged) that the Kingdom could ill afford and which would take time to replace. The thousands that Saladin’s army lost were probably easier to replace, although even this could have been discussed since his elite troops seem to have suffered disproportionally on the battlefield. Another point is that what following were bouts of disunion and power struggles among the Christians with the Leper King unable to exercise more than a weak and intermittent leadership, with this point being very well made, until the catastrophe of Hattin where, this time, it was the Frankish army’s turn to get caught in unfavourable conditions.

    Finally, and because this review is threatening to become overlong, here are a few quick points to further illustrate the ambivalence of this book which manages to be alternatively excellent sometimes, and rather questionable at others.

    To the extent that the book shows to what extent Reynald’s “deeds” and role have been blackened, and to what extent he has been into a “scapegoat”, this book is a spirited effort to rehabilitate him. However, in attempting to show him up as an “embodiment of chivalric ideal” is clearly going too far. In the same vein, Raymond III of Tripoli, who is traditionally (and quite excessively) cast as “the goddie” by the sources and by many modern historians just as Reynald is the “arch-villain” does not deserve to be “blackened” and portrayed as a collaborator, a coward and a traitor by the author.

    Several sets of excellent points are made when presenting the background conditions of Outremer. This includes the chronic shortages in manpower and financial resources (the Kingdom of Jerusalem was always on the brink of bankruptcy, for instance), and the fact that assembling the Kingdom’s army often meant denuding castles and fortresses of their garrisons, so that any defeat, if crushing, could quickly become catastrophic in the absence of immediately available reinforcements (i.e. of new waves of Crusaders). A second set of points is to show how much the success of the First Crusade and the survival of the crusader States owed to the disunion and infighting between Moslem powers. The corollary was that should these be allowed to unite or come under the sway of a single authority, as happened with Saladin, their survival would be more than compromised. Here, however, and rather than only blaming Raymond III of Tripoli’s shoulders for failing to prevent Saladin from taking Aleppo in 1183, it would have been fairer for the author to acknowledge that this was just the last of a series of blunders, starting with the failure to prevent Nur Ed Din to capture Damascus in 1154, the failure to prevent the fall of the Fatimids and the take-over of Egypt, and then the failure to stop Saladin from reunifying all of the Syrian power centres with Egypt. The first of these failures took place well before either Raymond or Reynald had any say in the matter.

    With regards to Reynald, one of the book’s many strongpoints is to show his role as a (somewhat forceful) diplomat with a strong grasp of strategy. He may have been reckless but he knew (or at least he thought he knew) what he was doing and believed that it was what needed to be done. His main problem seems to have been that he was convinced that he was right, unable to obey orders and to defer to others and therefore rather difficult to work with, unless he was firmly put down, kept in his place and used to the best of his abilities by a powerful sovereign. Emperor Manuel was such a sovereign and he did force Reynald into compliance but Baldwin the young Leper was unable to be so forceful, despite all his courage.

    Four last comments, to finish up this long review and although many more points could be discussed.

    One is that, despite the author’s claims and the use of Reynald’s name for propaganda reasons by Al Qaïda, he was not and is not the “most notorious of all Crusaders”, either in the West or in the Moslem world. These would be Bohemond, the founder of the Principality of Antioch, perhaps Godefroy de Bouillon, the first ruler of Jerusalem who refused to be crowned King, and a certain Richard Lionheart.

    A second comment is that the statement that the history of the Crusades being very much alive in the Muslim world, instead of being dimly remembered as it is in the West, is simply not demonstrated. What is probably much more remembered, and perhaps much more membered and a source of bitterness is the dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, and the “sharing of the spoils” between Italian, French and British, but this has little to do with the Crusades and even less with the author’s subject.

    What is clearly the case, however, is that a distorted version of the Crusade is used for propaganda purposes by Moslem fanatics (Al Qaida and now IS). Some in the West have responded in kind by harnessing the Crusades as an element of a so-called “Clash of Civilisations”. The author sometimes gives the impression of adhering to this view; although there is no real historical ground them.

    My last comment is that while this book is eminently readable, it is also very biased. Given this, it is probably not the best overview for someone with little or no prior knowledge of the Crusades in general, and the second half of the 12th century and the end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in particular.

    Four stars all the same for a fascinating read, despite all the exaggerations and biases.
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  • jennica arazi
    5.0 out of 5 stars It also sheds new light on famous figures like Saladin. Beware if you are a squeamish reader
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2017
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    I have long been interested in history of the crusades, partly as a period in the history of Israel. Most books about the crusader period are general surveys, but God's Wolf is a vivid and original history of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem through the life of a remarkable individual.

    Approaching the period through one man's story allows the writer to make the narrative clear and exciting, and keeps you gripped the whole way through. It has the plot of a novel and if you don't already know the story, you will be left wondering what happens to Reynald until the very end. It also sheds new light on famous figures like Saladin. Beware if you are a squeamish reader, this was a violent period and Lee's book pulls no punches about the gruesome deeds of the main protagonist, or anyone else.

    I loved the novelistic 'scenes' at the beginning of each chapter, which are made up of events and dialogue drawn directly from the original sources.

    God's Wolf brings the period alive and without labouring the point, shows just how relevant the crusades are to today's conflicts in the Middle East.
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  • Pelagio
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, riveting biography.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2017
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    This is a superb biography of the most notorious crusader. At the same time the author provides a great overview of the second crusade and the geo-political aspects of the time.
    Raynauld de Chatillion has been often vilified in previous books about the crusades, however the author puts the record straight and offer a fresh approach to his character.
    He remains one of the most hated characters in islam and the book offers an explanation of why that is. He took the fight to very heart of islam and raided the Arabian peninsula,.
    This book is highly relevant today, not only because of the failed al-quaida plot in sanna but because it offers a great insight into the fighting mentality of those groups that originate in the middle east.
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