In twenty years, the de Hauteville brothers have risen from penniless obscurity to become the most potent warrior family in Christendom: depended on by the Pope, feared by Byzantium, and respected by the Holy Roman Emperor. And now Roger, the youngest son, has finally come to Italy, where he also proves himself to be a great warrior and canny politician. It is he who will raise the family to the pinnacle of influence, not as vassals beholden to a greater power, but rulers in their own right.

But the path is not easy; brotherly love only goes so far and nothing has altered in the bubbling stew of Italian politics. There are enemies at Roger's back as well as before him, battles to fight and defeats to be reversed, treacheries both secret and transparent to circumvent. Yet the loyalty of blood that binds this family of warriors together is still present and it is that, above everything, which will in the end be the catalyst that propels the name de Hauteville to the pinnacle of power as they face the mighty Saracen Emirs of Sicily and undertake, with papal blessing, the first true crusade of the eleventh century.

About the Author

David Donachie was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has always had an abiding interest in military history, including ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the British navy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the clandestine services during the Second World War. He has more than fifty published novels to his credit, with over a million combined sales. David lives in Deal, the historic English seaport on the border of the English Channel and the North Sea.

Book Information
ISBN 9781493076260
Author David Donachie
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint McBooks Press
Publisher Globe Pequot Press
Weight(grams) 367g
Dimensions(mm) 201mm * 130mm * 25mm