A History of the Crusades

Runciman presented them not as Christendom's defensive war against the threat of Islamic expansion, but as a continuation of the destructive "barbarian invasions" that had led to the fall of Rome.

Furthermore, Runciman includes the history of the Byzantine Empire in his scope, moving his focus further east and at the same time tempering the "Romantic" view of the crusades as heroic or chivalrous enterprise.

When the first volume appeared in 1951, Egyptian historian Aziz Atiya noted that it was "essentially a narrative of crusading events rather than an analytical study and a discussion of problems."

Its scope encompasses the ascendancy of Islam in the Levant during the early 7th century until the fall of Acre in 1291, with later chapters covering through 1464, the time of Pope Pius II.

He himself stated that "The historian must attempt to add to his subjective study the qualities of intuitive sympathy and imaginative perception, without which he cannot hope to comprehend the fears and aspirations and convictions that have moved past generations.