by Tony McMahon (Author)
The horrors of the Crusades have left their mark on Templar William de Mandeville, but in returning home to England he only encounters more woe when he finds his father and older brother have blackened the family name.
Determined to set things right, William saves a peasant boy from his sadistic brother's clutches and flees to Portugal. From here he plans to once again fight alongside his Christian brothers in the hopes of retrieving the holy cross of Christ, which the Saracens have stolen. Surely, such an act will restore his good name. But can he overcome his past failings as a warrior and survive long enough to find the sacred relic amid the burning city of Al-Usbuna?
Quest for the True Cross plunges headlong into the religious and political pandemonium of the twelfth-century, cleverly depicting both sides of the Crusades in a way that doesn't set one above the other.
Author Biography
Former BBC producer Tony McMahon is an award-shortlisted author living in south London. After working for twenty years as a news journalist for the BBC, Sky News, and Financial Times, he now pursues his avid interest in politics, religion, and history by writing books, and has already published two biographies: Original Rude Boy, the story of legendary vocalist Neville Staple, and No Place to Hide, about middleweight champion boxer Errol Christie, which was shortlisted for best UK sports biography of 2011.
McMahon manages the medieval blog thetemplarknight.com and has traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East to research the sites featured in his first historical novel, Quest for the True Cross. He is already working on another nonfiction book, The Battle for British Islam, which he is coauthoring with Sara Khan.