Assassins and Templars traces the intertwined histories of two legendary medieval orders—the Shiʿite “Assassins†(Nizari Ismailis) and the Christian Knights Templar. Steve Tibble’s book explores how each, despite being tiny in numbers, wielded outsized influence through a shared cult of martyrdom and a “promise of death†doctrine. Beginning around 1100 in the Crusader era, Tibble follows both groups through two centuries of warfare, crusading zeal, sectarian strife, and political intrigue. His purpose is to demystify both orders by separating myth from reality—to tell “the story of the unlikely reality behind those equally bizarre legends.†The result is a sweeping narrative that connects Frankish and Middle Eastern history, revealing how fanatical devotion, military fervour, and propaganda bound these orders together even as they fought each other by proxy.
