"History Is a Methodology and Nothing More"

"Think of the internet as a vast ocean of written statements. That ocean is not governed by any traditional knowledge structures; users are instead navigated by for-profit companies that seek to maximize engagement, no matter the cost. The social norms of this world are also chaotic, since users can be anonymous and their social contact therefore undaunted by ordinary interpersonal consequences. Interpretations of the ocean's infinite knowledge float like algae blooms on the surface of the internet, totally unrestrained in their growth by law or shame or 'truth,' which we previously relied upon to negotiate on behalf of the greater good. In this universe, 'the Crusades' are a hunk of narrative flotsam, floating toward whichever whirlpool in the culture is moving fastest, thickening and speeding up discursive maelstroms wherever it finds them."

Josephine Livingstone at The New Republic reviews Christopher Tyerman's The World of the Crusades.