Dr. Andrew Holt is a former Professor of History at Florida State College at Jacksonville (2010-2022). He continues to teach graduate history courses online for Norwich University-The Military College of Vermont. He holds a doctorate in history from the University of Florida and his primary areas of study/interest include the crusades, ecclesiastical history, medieval Islamic history, and the modern Middle East. He has provided commentary and analysis on current events in the Middle East on dozens of occasions for local television and radio news programs in N. Florida and has served as a co-moderator in two debates for Florida’s 4th Congressional District. He is also a former U.S. Marine, a First Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo (ATA), and the proud father of three beautiful children.

His publications include Sanctified Violence: Holy War in World History Co-authored with Alfred J. Andrea  (Cambridge, Mass.: Hackett, 2021), The World of the Crusades: A Daily Life Encyclopedia, 2 Vols (Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2019), Great Events in Religion: An Encyclopedia of Pivotal Events in Religious History, 3 Vols. Co-Edited with Florin Curta (Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2016), Seven Myths of the Crusades. Co-Edited with Alfred J. Andrea (Cambridge, Mass.: Hackett, 2015), and Fighting Words: Competing Voices from the Crusades. Co-Edited with James Muldoon. (Oxford: Greenwood, 2008). His most recent edited work is Religion and World Civilizations: How Faith Shaped Societies from Antiquity to the Present, 4 Vols. (Bloomsbury Academic, June 2023). He is also the former editor of the crusades section of the Oxford Bibliographies Online (offered by Oxford University Press) and a series editor for Hackett Publishing’s Seven Myths Historical Series.

His work has been cited in such publications as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, and others. Among his teaching awards are the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Award (March 2016) as well as an Outstanding Faculty Award (2015-2016) and a Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching (May  2013).

This blog is his personal blog considering topics of interest related to history, religion, politics, U.S. foreign policy, and academia. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the views of his employers. For questions or comments, please email him directly at crusadehistorian@gmail.com

See Also: Blogging as a Crusade Historian (2017)

Below Images: (L) Andrew meeting in Istanbul with Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, in the spring of 2002. (Center) Meeting in Nazareth, Israel with Israeli Knesset (parliament) member Yousef Jabareen in the summer of 2016. (R) Dinner in the West Bank with Musa Hadid, the Christian Mayor of Ramallah, during the summer of 2016.