Sisters of the sword: Six centuries to the epic finale of the Last Crusade (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781789635874)

After two centuries of bitter conflict the Holy Land is lost. Outmanoeuvred and overwhelmed by a superior enemy, the last of the Crusaders sail away.

Defeated, despondent and despairing of ever achieving Christendom's longed-for triumph over the Infidel, they are broken men.

It takes a woman - and a lineage of influential women - at the heart of the secretive Order of St Anthony to marshal the fortunes and forces that will lead to the ultimate clash of two mighty faiths hundreds of years later.

From the 13th-century Levant, to the 20th-century Vatican, from the terrors of Nazi-occupied Poland, to Northern Ireland's internecine Troubles, Sisters of the Sword tracks the intrigues and plotting of two Eleanors and the two seasoned soldiers they seduce to their cause as they drive forward the quest for the final victory that will close the Crusades for ever.

Now in its full and final form, Rod Sproson's sweeping historical narrative, received 5-star reviews when the first part was published, among them:

Several years intense research has resulted in a cracking adventure set in the 14th century and charting the trials of a Crusader knight. Sir Henri De Montfort L'Amaury, who joins a secret order similar to the infamous Knights Templar and is plunged into a world of intrigue, romance political power struggles and the origins of the Holy Grail. - Abigail Kemp, Senior Editor with the Manchester Evening News

The book unveils the mystery of what happened to the treasure of the Knights Templar and what became of the Holy Grail - it entices the reader with mystery, intrigue and romance managing to satisfy the reader's thirst for knowledge and endless questions that [Dan] Brown's book [The Da Vinci Code] first brought to light. This book clips along at a pace and the ending will leave readers desperate for Sproson's next book in this epic story, which runs all the way to the present day. - Matt Davis: Guardian Media Group.