The First Crusaders, 1095–1131 is a mature work of a leading scholar in the field of Crusade history that displays the results of years of detailed research and thought. The greatest strength of this work is that Riley-Smith draws extensively on documentary evidence from cartularies and archives surviving in European religious communities. Such thorough and extensive use of cartulary evidence is surprisingly rare. The result is a largely fresh view of the old topic of the Crusaders' motivation and a vastly more detailed portrayal of the mechanics and logistics behind the First Crusade. The author supports his views with the cumulative weight of scores of observations regarding the identification and origins of participants in the early Crusading movement. Riley-Smith has complied (and made available in an Appendix) detailed and judicious lists of all those who certainly, probably, and possibly participated in the Crusades between 1096 and 1129. Culled from all the narrative sources and many collections of documents, the lists provide a substantial body of evidence that many scholars will find useful.