The Road To Jerusalem: Volume 1 The Crusades Trilogy

by Anna Paterson (Translator), JanGuillou (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $89.66

  The hero of this phenomenally successful historical trilogy is Arn Magnusson, born in 1150 to an aristocratic Swedish family. THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM covers his childhood and education at the Cistercian monastry of Varnhem. There he is taught the best of spiritual and worldly learning, as well as being trained to become a master archer and swordsman by the giant Brother Guilbert, a former knight. At seventeen, equipped to become a monk or a warrior, Arn returns home, a young man and yet an innocent in the ways of the world. Two sisters cross his path: one seduces him, while with the other sister, Cecilia, he falls deeply in love. In loving two sisters he has committed a crime punishable by both civil and clerical authorities, and he is sentenced to serve 20 years as a Knight Templar in the Holy Land. THE KNIGHT TEMPLAR (Volume 2 to be published 2002) recounts Arn's experiences as an occupation officer in Palestine and in volume 3, THE KINGDOM AT THE END OF THE ROAD, (to be published 2003) Arn leaves Jerusalem a changed man. He returns to Sweden, torn apart by feudal infighting in which his family is deeply embroiled; and to Cecilia, the love of his youth, who was banished to a nunnery for the period he was in the Holy Land.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $113.66

  The epic story of one man's fight for his love, his God and his Country The Road to Jerusalem - Book 1 in the Crusades Trilogy. Arn Magnusson, born into an aristocratic Swedish family, is raised in an old monastery because of an old promise made by his mother. From the start he shows the natural skill and aptitude of a born fighter, yet despite his strength he is innocent in the ways of the world. He is sent from the sheltered walls of the convent to experience something of real life. On his journeys Arn falls foul of various fighting groups, but is also delighted with the women he encounters. Seduced by one sister, he falls in love with the other and ends up sleeping with them both - a mortal sin in the medieval church. While his love is sent to a convent, Arn's sentence is commuted to forced commitment to the cause of the Crusades, where he becomes a notable soldier and eventually a high ranking commander of the Knights Templar and both friend and enemy to the charismatic Saladin. Arn's Story continues in the next two books: The Knight Templar and Kingdom at the End of the Road.