{"title":"James Waterson","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into gripping tales of crime and suspense with James Waterson. Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter James, Waterson's thrillers offer compelling mysteries and unforgettable characters. Start your next suspenseful read here.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ismaili-assassins-the-history-of-medieval-murder-book-james-waterson-9781848325050","title":"The Ismaili: Assassins, The:  History of Medieval Murder","description":"The Ismaili Assassins were an underground group of political killers who were ready to kill Christians and Muslims alike with complete disregard for their own lives. These devoted murderers were under the powerful control of a grand master who used assassination as part of a grand strategic vision that embraced Egypt, the Levant and Persia and even reached the court of the Mongol Khans in far away Qaraqorum.The Assassins were meticulous in their killing. 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Their story embraces many of the great themes of medieval military endeavour: the Crusaders and the deadly contest between Islam and Christendom, the Mongols and their vision of World Dominion, Tamerlane the Scourge of God and the rise of the Ottoman Empire whose own slave soldiers, the Janissaries, would be the Mamluks' final nemesis.  They entered the Islamic world as unlettered automatons and through a total application to the craft of the warrior they became more than soldiers. After a bloody seizure of power from their masters, the descendants of Saladin, they developed a martial code and an honour system based on barracks brotherhood, a sophisticated military society that harnessed the state's energies for total war and produced a series of treatises on cavalry tactics, martial training, mounted archery and scientific and analytical approaches to warfare that more than compare to Sun Tzu's Art of War, the Western Codes of Chivalry and the Bushido in their complexity, beauty of language and comprehensive coverage of the bloody business of war.  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