Ironhand

The Sword and the Cross #1

by Hilary Green

'Full of narrative drive and historical insight. A must read for fans of the period.' Richard Foreman

1095.

Pope Urban calls on the princes of Christendom to free Jerusalem from the infidel.

Bohemond of Taranto arrives in Sicily seeking recruits for his force of Crusaders.

Ranulph of Erbistock, known as Ironhand, joins him.

Bohemond's army is beset by enemies without and dissension and treachery within, but Ranulph becomes one of his trusted councillors.

The crusaders fight their way onwards until halted by the impregnable walls of Antioch.

Ranulph calls on the help of an old friend to find a way into the city.

In the midst of the ensuing slaughter he is reunited with Mariam, the woman he hoped to marry.

Besieged in their turn, the crusaders are saved by the discovery of the Holy Lance.

Jerusalem falls to them at last, but Ranulph is sickened by the terrible slaughter that follows.

Almost at the point of death, he is offered a chance to join a new Order of Brothers whose purpose is to care for the sick.

But Ranulph is one of God's warriors. And he will have to fight.

Hilary Green is the author of several historical novels about the themes of love and war.

328 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 12, 2019

About the author

Hilary Green is a trained actress and spent many years teaching drama. She has always written, producing novels, scripts for the BBC, and short stories, one of which one the Kythira Prize awarded by the Historical Novel Society.

When not writing she gardens, rides horses, walks in the countryside and plays bridge as well as enjoying travel and has been round the world several times. Hilary is married, a grown-up son and two grandchildren.