Crossed
A Tale of the Fourth Crusade
Published on 5. February 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
672 pages
978-0-06-084180-5 (ISBN)
Description
In Venice, 1202, tens of thousands of crusaders set sail for Jerusalem to liberate the great city from Muslim rule. Among them is a British vagabond grudgingly taken under the wing of a pious knight who believes that the mission is truly blessed by God. Before leaving, the vagabond rescues a woman pretending to be an Arab princess, hoping that under the protection of his benefactor knight, he can smuggle the young woman back to the Holy Land. However, this 'holy' campaign sinks into tragic moral turpitude - first in an attack on the Adriatic port city of Zara, and ultimately in the fall of the seat of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople.
Reviews / Votes
"A clever novel of courtly love ... entertains with a flourish." -- Publishers Weekly "A tasty fictional stew, mixing elements of twelfth-century culture together skillfully to produce a veritable reading feast ...The combination of vicious politics, mysterious doings, betrayals, and double-dealing, added to a leisurely but engaging plot, will keep those pages turning." -- Booklist "A tasty fictional stew... A veritable reading feast." -- Booklist on Revenge of the Rose "A wallop of a first novel-entertaining and engaging." -- San Francisco Chronicle on The Fool's Tale "[A] funny (really!) look at this disastrous Crusade through the eyes of a wacky Welshman, a pious knight and his half-brother and an Arab princess (who isn't what she seems) they hope to return to her Egyptian home. It's a raucous road trip set in the 13th century." -- New York Post "[A]ttention to detail and humor keeps the novel both exhaustive and hilarious...Nicole Galland is exceptionally well versed in the fine nuances of storytelling and illustrating the combustible nature of mixing religion, commerce and war." -- St. Petersburg Times (Florida) "[A]t once an idiot's guide to the tangled geopolitical landscape of 13th century and a clear and stern indictment of contemporary events...Thick with delectable historical details." -- Martha's Vineyard Times on CROSSEDMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 133 mm
Thickness: 39 mm
Weight
833 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-084180-5 (9780060841805)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2009
1st Edition
HarperCollins
from
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Nicole Galland's five previous novels are The Fool's Tale; Revenge of the Rose; Crossed; I, Iago, and Godiva. She writes a cheeky etiquette column for the Martha's Vineyard Times. She is married to actor Billy Meleady and owns Leuco, a dog of splendid qualities.