Editions

The Crusader

The Crusader

'An impressive debut' Independent

GLORY. POWER. REVENGE.

The seventh and last Crusade. Young, Spanish nobleman, Francisco de Montcada, is the hero of this novel, but his tale is told by his former friend, a moderately trustworthy Cistercian monk named Brother Lucas.

For Francisco has returned from the Levant a broken and seemingly possessed man. The Inquisition decree that his tortured soul be exorcized and the task falls to Brother Lucas, who sits with the silent, emaciated knight in his cell and talks to him.

Slowl, Francisco begins to recount his story . . .

Set against a thrillingly authentic historical backdrop, this stirring novel of religious fervour and human passions, of greed and betrayal, and love and war, brings a tumultuous era brilliantly to life.

Reviews

  • A fine retelling of the travels and battles of one Francisco de Montcada

    Giles Foden, author of The Last King of Scotland

  • 'The thinking man's swashbuckler, a ripping yarn that packs a cerebral wallop as well'

    Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire

  • 'An impressive debut'

    Independent

  • 'Impressive...it's a bloodthirsty, but gripping tale, told with the authority of someone who has thoroughly researched his subject'

    Yorkshire Post

  • ''an impressive achievement'

    Mail on Sunday

About the Author

Michael Eisner

Michael Eisner is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School. He has worked in refugee camps on the Thai Cambodia border and was in Chile during the transition from Pinochet's rule to democracy. An expert in international law, he worked on the Middle East peace process for the U.S. State Department. It was during a trip to Syria, he visited the massive medieval fortress, Krak des Chevaliers, and it inspired him to write a novel about the Crusades. Michael Eisner live in New York City.

Michael Eisner

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