Knight with Armour is the best historical novel to tackle the epic story of the First Crusade. We follow an impoverished young knight on the three-year journey to the Holy Land that culminates in the storming of Jerusalem in 1099. Like most of his contemporaries, Roger has never travelled outside his county, let alone country. His religious convictions are sincere, if alien to modern sensibilities (the Turks are 'devil worshippers' since they deny Christ). He discovers the yawning gulf between war as celebrated by the troubadours and the grisly reality of life and death on campaign: dysentery, starvation and brutal death in battle. On no account read the last page first.