THE GRAND CHAM, originally published in Adventure magazine in 1922 but never before in book form, is a grand story of revenge that begins in the camp of the Turkish lord, Bayezid, but quickly moves on to Venice, the deck of a galley, an overland caravan, and the tent of Tamerlane the Great, amongst many other places. When hero Micheal Bearn is crippled by Bayezid, he vows vengeance and escapes captivity, surviving when his companions fall, which serves only to strengthen his resolve. Barefoot, injured, and broke in the land of his enemies shortly after the story opens, he lives to see his fortunes turn, and, most importantly, his vow fulfilled. This is the first book publication of THE GRAND CHAM, which also features a new introduction by Lamb scholar Howard Jones.
Harold Albert Lamb was an American historian, screenwriter, short story writer, and novelist.
Born in Alpine, New Jersey, he attended Columbia University, where his interest in the peoples and history of Asia began. Lamb built a career with his writing from an early age. He got his start in the pulp magazines, quickly moving to the prestigious Adventure magazine, his primary fiction outlet for nineteen years. In 1927 he wrote a biography of Genghis Khan, and following on its success turned more and more to the writing of non-fiction, penning numerous biographies and popular history books until his death in 1962. The success of Lamb's two volume history of the Crusades led to his discovery by Cecil B. DeMille, who employed Lamb as a technical advisor on a related movie, The Crusades, and used him as a screenwriter on many other DeMille movies thereafter. Lamb spoke French, Latin, Persian, and Arabic, and, by his own account, a smattering of Manchu-Tartar.