Review: The Crusades were not always Christians attacking Muslims, sometimes they attacked their own!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 10, 2013
Mark Butler gives us an excellent but short look at The Fourth Crusade that was to bring Christian Knights on a path to deliver Jerusalem from the grips of Islam and return it to the "Christians.". The problem was that the Fourth Crusade got bogged down in the Christians attacking other Christians in hopes of acquiring enough cash to fund the Crusade.  It was accomplished by one deposed King who convinced the Crusaders to go and defeat Constantinoble and return that Kingdom to his right, in exchange for the money needed for the Crusade to Jerusalem.The problem that they ran into was that the battles they fought were bloody, tiresome and although they did overthrow Constantinoble they were not able to recover the riches of that city which had been plundered already by the false King.Mark Butler writes the historical account of the Crusade through the eyes of a fictitious family, that's what gives us a "historical novel.".  The family is the family of a warrior named Rayjo who was a hero of the Third Crusade.  He has three children, Juno, Ruggiero and Maria.The opening of the novel is written from Ruggerios perspective as he is attempting to return from the Crusade to report to King Peter of Spain the atrocities that he has witnessed.  He is a Priest of the Catholic Church who was sent out with the armies to participate in the Crusade, since it was a religious and Holy war.From this point Butler uses flashbacks of Ruggerios to his childhood to help us learn about his family and the circumstances that brought them to the point where Rayjo and Juan are warriors headed off to war and Ruggerios joins them as a Priest who goes along to care for the warriors.We will learn about the Crusade through Ruggerios eyes as he processes what is going on and why the Crusade goes the wrong direction and brings pain and suffering to the Christians involved.The character development is good, you come to know the hearts and thoughts of Rayjo, Juan and Ruggerio.  You come to see how power and greed often drive the warriors instead of a sense of calling to right a "religious" wrong.  The story is well written, it will hold your attention and you will find yourself cheering for the good guys and booing the bad guys and often wondering who is good and who is bad.Butler brings history to life in this well written short chronicle of one family and their dealings with the Fourth Crusade.Enjoy!