Review: A great read -- and more than a novel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2012
I ordered this book for my Kindle without realizing that it was a novel -- foolish me.  But once I started reading it, I found that it is more interesting, from a historian's point of view, than many supposedly scholarly treatises on the subject.This book is a serious study of the times, using real lives and biographies.  Unlike most historical novels that bend history to fit the story line, the author scrupulously adheres to known history and (very cleverly) makes his plot conform.I highly recommend this book to both those who are knowledgeable of the times of the crusades and to those who want a good introduction to the period.