The Templars

Description

Dan Jones narrates in his inimitably vivid and authoritative fashion the remarkable story of the Knights Templar. 'Exhilarating, epic, sword-swinging history' TLS 'Jones is certainly an entertainer, but also a fine historian who knows how to render serious scholarship into accessible prose' The Times 'Another triumphant tale from a historian who writes as addictively as any page-turning novelist' Observer 'When it comes to rip-roaring medieval narratives, Jones has few peers, and in the Templars he finds the perfect subject' Sunday Times The Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful - and most secretive - of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era. Their story - encompassing as it does the greatest international conflict of the Middle Ages, a network of international finance, a swift rise in wealth and influence followed by a bloody and humiliating fall - has left a comet's tail of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire historians, novelists and conspiracy theorists.

Dan Jones is a historian, broadcaster and award-winning journalist. His books, including The Plantagenets, Magna Carta, The Templars, Crusaders and The Colour of Time (with Marina Amaral), have sold more than one million copies worldwide. He has written and hosted dozens of TV shows including the acclaimed Netflix/Channel 5 series, Secrets of Great British Castles. His writing has appeared in newspapers and magazines including the Evening Standard, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, GQ and Spectator.

Exhilarating, epic, sword-swinging history... A skilful storyteller [...] he enlivens the narrative with bloodcurdling details and arresting turns of phrase... There is also fine scholarly intuition' * TLS * Told with all Jones's usual verve and panache, this is a dramatic and gripping tale of courage and stupidity, faith and betrayal * Mail on Sunday * Jones is certainly an entertainer, but also a fine historian who knows how to render serious scholarship into accessible prose * The Times * Another triumphant tale from a historian who writes as addictively as any page-turning novelist * Observer * When it comes to rip-roaring medieval narratives, Jones has few peers, and in the Templars he finds the perfect subject * Sunday Times * A fresh, muscular and compelling history of the ultimate military-religious crusading order, combining sensible scholarship with narrative swagger, featuring a cast of exuberantly monstrous sword-swingers spattering Christian and Islamic blood from Spain to Jerusalem -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography The story of the Templars, the ultimate holy warriors, is an extraordinary saga of fanaticism, bravery, treachery and betrayal, and in Dan Jones they have a worthy chronicler. The Templars is a wonderful book! -- Bernard Cornwall, author of The Last Kingdom Snappy, well-paced... The author's ambition, he says, is to tell the story of the Templars in a straightforward way and "to write a book that will entertain as well as inform". He has done precisely that' * Daily Telegraph * Full of tales of bloodshed, bravery and betrayal, this is a passionate guide to the unstoppable rise and spectacular fall of the poster boys of the Middle Ages * The Tablet, Books of the Year * [The Templars'] colourful story is grippingly told by the excellent Dan Jones * Mail on Sunday *