The Sword Brothers

Jerusalem may have fallen to the Saracens but in the Baltic Bishop Albert of Riga has created the crusader state of Livonia to bring the word of God to the indigenous pagans. The battle to convert the natives is savage and unrelenting and into this holy war is thrust Conrad Wolff, a young native of the city of Lübeck whose family has suffered a terrible injustice. Forced to leave his homeland to seek sanctuary in Livonia, Conrad’s fate is soon entwined with that of the Sword Brothers, the order of warrior monks that fights to defend and expand Christendom in the Baltic. But as Conrad begins his training to become a member of the brethren, the enemies of the Bishop of Riga gather and soon Livonia is surrounded and battling for its very existence. Conrad and the order soon find themselves fighting for their lives as the enemies of the Sword Brothers close in on all sides. This, the first volume in the Crusader Chronicles, tells the story of Conrad Wolff and the Baltic Crusade during the first years of the thirteenth century.About the AuthorI was raised in Grantham, Lincolnshire and attended the King's Grammar School after passing the Eleven Plus exam. In the latter I clearly remember writing an essay on Oliver Cromwell – my first piece of military writing. Then came a BA in history and international relations at Nottingham followed by a Master of Philosophy course at the University of York. The subject was the generalship and cavalry of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, my boyhood hero, during the English Civil War. The year I spent researching and writing at York, Oxford and at the British Library in London was a truly wonderful time. However, like all great times it eventually came to an end and I was forced to find employment. Fate took a hand and I landed a job as a research officer with the Defence Intelligence Staff in Whitehall. Writing top-secret intelligence reports was highly exciting, until I realised that their security clearance was so high that only a handful of people were cleared to read them. In 1990, therefore, I decided to apply for a job in the publishing industry as an editor. I joined a small company in said position in the summer of that year and the rest, as they say, is history. The books that I have written to date can be found on my website: www.peterdarman.com