Templar Knight: Book Two of the Crusades Trilogy - Softcover

Ten years since his exile to the Holy Land, Arn Magnusson has quickly risen in the ranks of the Knights Templar, serving as Master of the organization s Gaza fortress. Part of the last bastion of God s holy warriors standing between Muslim warlords and Jerusalem, Arn has cultivated a shrewd understanding of his enemy s language and religion. Known as Al-Ghouti among the Saracens, he is feared as a man of compassion but also great strength, who never wavers in his faith.

Meanwhile, in Western Götaland, the struggle for the crown continues as competing clans vie for power. Cecilia, Arn s betrothed, lives out her parallel sentence confined to a cloister. With Arn in her prayers, she is forced to send off their newborn son to be raised by relatives. Gudhem convent isn t immune from the tensions throwing the kingdom into turmoil, and Cecilia suffers at the hand of a cruel abbess from the rival Sverker clan, who lets politics get in the way of Christian compassion.

In the Gaza desert, Arn rescues a wealthy Arab merchant from a band of thieves, and the two instantly strike up a friendship based on mutual respect. But when the man turns out to be none other than Saladin, the most feared and loathed of Saracen warlords, Arn is divided between his God-given mission and the reality of life in these war-torn lands. The paths of the two men are bound to cross again, but the chance encounter in the desert will alter the course of Arn s life, and the history of Jerusalem.

When the bloody Battle of Hattin is over, and the Crusaders are confronted with the reality of Saladin s superior forces, Arn will find himself a free man; but the road in front of him is long and bloody. Twenty years after his departure, he has no idea what kingdom awaits him at home, or whether his betrothed still lives. Broadening the scope of Arn s epic path to forgiveness, The Templar Knight continues the story of the founding of a nation-the warrior and the love that made it possible.

Swedish born journalist Jan Guillou is the creator of the two most successful Swedish works of fiction of all time-the Hamilton series and the Crusades Trilogy. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages.