In the latter half of the 13th century, Christian Europe again sought to prise the Holy Land out of the grasp of the Infidel. Tens of thousands took up the Cross
- some for the greater glory of God, others for baser motives: lust for power, for riches, for revenge.
THE CRUSADER tells the story of the seventh & last Crusade, as experienced by a young Spanish nobleman, Francisco de Montcada. He is the hero of this novel, but his tale is told by his former friend & a fellow acolyte, a venal & moderately trustworthy Cistercian monk named Brother Lucas. For Francisco has returned from the Levant a broken & seemingly possessed man. The Inquisition decree that his tortured soul be exorcized & the task falls to Brother Lucas. Eschewing the Inquisition

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In the latter half of the 13th century, Christian Europe again sought to prise the Holy Land out of the grasp of the Infidel. Tens of thousands took up the Cross
- some for the greater glory of God, others for baser motives: lust for power, for riches, for revenge.
THE CRUSADER tells the story of the seventh & last Crusade, as experienced by a young Spanish nobleman, Francisco de Montcada. He is the hero of this novel, but his tale is told by his former friend & a fellow acolyte, a venal & moderately trustworthy Cistercian monk named Brother Lucas. For Francisco has returned from the Levant a broken & seemingly possessed man. The Inquisition decree that his tortured soul be exorcized & the task falls to Brother Lucas. Eschewing the Inquisition

...

Elise loves the farm that is her home; she loves playing with beetles & chameleons in the garden, buying sweets from the village shop & listening to the stories of spirits & charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl in 1990s Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. Her clothes are always clean & ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gin & tonics are served on the veranda, &, in theory at least, black & white live in harmony.

However this dream-world of her childhood cannot last. As Elise gets older, her eyes are opened to the complexities of adult existence, both through the changes wrought in her family by the arrival of her step-father Steve, & through her growing understanding of the tensions in Zimbabwean society. As Mugabe

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Elise loves the farm that is her home; she loves playing with beetles & chameleons in the garden, buying sweets from the village shop & listening to the stories of spirits & charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl in 1990s Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. Her clothes are always clean & ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gin & tonics are served on the veranda, &, in theory at least, black & white live in harmony.

However this dream-world of her childhood cannot last. As Elise gets older, her eyes are opened to the complexities of adult existence, both through the changes wrought in her family by the arrival of her step-father Steve, & through her growing understanding of the tensions in Zimbabwean society. As Mugabe

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Suffused with rich satire, chaotic brilliance, verbal turbulence & wild humour, The Crying of Lot 49 opens as Oedipa Maas ...

From world bestselling author Anne Mc Caffrey, creator of The Dragons of Pern, comes a new saga
- the story of the brave,
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Fact: Five thousand years ago, the Mayans carved thirteen crystal skulls.

Fact: To protect

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21.12.12. The date is set. Time is running out.

Hidden for four centuries, a crystal skull of exquisite beauty

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