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.