Robyn Young is a compelling voice in historical fiction, writing in the tradition of Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden and Manda Scott. This is the epic second novel in the million-selling Brethren trilogy.

It is 1274 and in the fortified city of Acre, the last major stronghold of the Crusaders in Palestine, an epic conflict is beginning.

Will Campbell is a Templar Knight, trained for war, but as a member of the mysterious group known as the Brethren, he is also a man of peace. After years of bloodshed the Brethren have helped create a truce between the Christians and Muslims.

But there are those on both side for whom peace is not an option. As war looms, Will is torn between his oath as a Templar, his secret role in the Brethren and his duty to Elwen, the woman he loves but is forbidden to marry.

"Crusade is a sweeping historical adventure as well as a cracking sequel" - Financial Times

"If you like your history with plenty of action, and the minimum of tricksiness, then this second part of a proposed trilogy is for you. All this is stitched together into a narrative whose attention to historical detail is offset by its pacey dialogue." - The Times

Robyn Young was born in Oxford and grew up in the Midlands and Devon. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Sussex and lives and writes in Brighton full-time. Her first novel, BRETHREN, was the bestselling hardback debut novel of 2006, with the paperback also going straight into the top ten bestseller list. Two more bestsellers followed, CRUSADE and REQUIEM, completing the Brethren trilogy, which has now sold over a million and been translated into nineteen languages. The inspiration for Robyn’s new trilogy, which began with INSURRECTION and continues in RENEGADE, grew out of an earlier research trip to Scotland. Robyn explains: ‘Day by day, out of the pages of history and the wild landscape, one figure came striding, larger, clearer than all the others – Robert the Bruce. He swept me off my feet and carried me into a story of bitter family feuds, two civil wars and the struggle for the crown. I realised there was no way this character could play a cameo role in another man’s story. His tale was too powerful, too intricate and too good to be cut down and boxed to fit.