Excerpt from Chapter VI: “…The arrival of Nur-ed-din upon the scene of Syrian politics, especially after his conquest of Damascus, introduced a highly disturbing influence. The King of Syria and the King of Jerusalem were now rival powers: neither could allow the other to increase his strength by the annexation of Egypt, and thus to acquire a vantage-ground from the south. Each coveted the delta of the Nile, and each watched his rival with jealous vigilance. The Egyptian vezirs, the real governors of the country, fully alive to the possibilities of the situation, set themselves to coquet with both parties, and to play off one against the other. In the end they carried the game too far, and gave Saladin an opportunity which he did not neglect.”
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Illustration – Crusaders and Egyptians before Ascalon:
Crusaders and Egyptians before Ascalon - from a painted window at St. Denys, 12th century
Illustration – Niche From The Chapel Of Sitta Nefisa:
Niche From The Chapel Of Sitta Nefisa, Arab Museum, Cairo
Aisha's Oasis 
are you reading this story, dear freind? i am slowly working on a nook book…and wishing for more time to read… so much in the world…but time is prohibitive…for so much out there and so only few hours in the day. 🙂
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Yes, it’s true – not enough time in the day! I downloaded this book as a text file the first time I read it a few months ago. It was impossible to close the file, because it had no bookmarking so I had to scroll thru all the pages to find my place – it was a pain! But it was such a good book I just dropped everything else and didn’t close the file till I finished it.
I loved it so much that I wanted to read it again, slower, so I downloaded all the pages from archive.com’s reader and I’m reassembling the book here, a chapter at a time, and reading it the same time
I know I’m a bit too nerdy for most, but I really appreciate that you always hit the like button on this! You’re wonderful!
xoxoxo! ;^)
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happy to oblige you! 🙂
i think ur pretty awesome, too! 🙂
i like to download books from project gutenberg onto my nook.
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Free books – yay! I like gutenburg, too. What are you reading lately?
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a daring book on Napoleons adolescence in Paris and military schooling. it has the most precious black and white illustrations. here is the link:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9479
ez to download. i am slowly enjoying it on my nook. 🙂
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Awesome! I have an interest in Napoleon, too! I’d like to follow his exploits here in Egypt – they say he gave the command to blow the nose off the sphinx by cannon – I’ll have to download that one and start with his youth – thank you very much dear sweet Tonia! xoxoxo!
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i’m only 2/3s of the way thru the book and he is only sixteen and already in the army. he was a passionate, poor youth who had a smart sensible head on his shoulders…plus, he loved to write…alot ALOT. !! 🙂
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Oh I can’t wait to read it – I just downloaded it!
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you will love the pictures, it was publishd in 1895.
Happy reading 🙂
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