Roger Crowley is one on the best (if not the best) narrative historians of the Middle Ages. Here is on great form talking about the Siege of Acre in 1291. The Crusaders have been pushed back and back with Acre the last meaningful holdout. They are up against the formidable Mamluks led by Sultan Khalil. Can they hold out? Roger's book The Accursed Tower (like all his books to be honest!) is a both rigorously researched and a fantastically exciting read. He covers the disastrous (for the Crusaders) Seventh Crusade, the rise of the remarkable Baibars and on the last significant battle of the Crusaders in the Holy Land. Roger is fantastic guest.