A close look at the early life, military experiences and key battlefield exploits of Al-Malik al-Nasir Yusuf Ibn Najm al-Din Ayyub Ibn Shahdi Abu''l-Muzaffar Salah al-Din, broadly regarded as the greatest hero of the Crusades, even in Europe.

Most chroniclers present him as a man of outstanding virtue, courage and political skill. More recently, however, efforts have been made to portray Saladin as an ambitious, ruthless and even devious politician, and as a less brilliant commander than is normally thought.

This book reveals that the truth is, as usual, somewhere in between.