In twenty years the de Hauteville brothers have gone 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 and proves himself also to be a great warrior and canny politician. The path is not easy, there are enemies at Roger’s back as well as before him, 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 be the catalyst that propels the name de Hauteville to the pinnacle of power, as they undertake, with papal blessing, the first true crusade of the 11th century.

JACK LUDLOW is the pen name of writer David Donachie, who was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has had a variety of jobs, including selling everything from business machines to soap. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which he drew upon for the many novels he has set in that period. The author of a number of bestselling books, he now lives in Deal with his wife, the novelist Sarah Grazebrook.

“It gives a vivid, authentic flavour of those turbulent times, laced with carefully-worked-in historical detail”   -- Historical Novels Review