"At the head of the de Hauteville family stands Robert, who has only one aim: to expand his power by military conquest. Roger, the youngest of the brothers, is a great fighter and canny politician. In company - and sometimes in conflict - with Robert, hewill seek to raise the family to become rulers in their own right. Their chosen enemies are the mighty Saracen Emirs of Sicily, and conquest comes before all . . . even if the path is not easy"--
The final volume in the sweeping Conquest trilogyOver twenty years, the de Hauteville brothers have risen from penniless obscurity to become the most potent warrior family in Christendom: depended on by the Pope, feared by Byzantium, and respected by the Holy Roman Emperor. And now Roger, the youngest son, has finally come to Italy, where he also proves himself to be a great warrior and canny politician. It is he who will raise the family to the pinnacle of influence, not as vassals beholden to a greater power, but as rulers in their own right.But the path is not easy; brotherly love only goes so far and nothing has altered in the bubbling stew of Italian politics. There are enemies at Roger’s back as well as before him, battles to fight and defeats to be reversed, treacheries both secret and transparent to circumvent. Yet the loyalty of blood that binds this family of warriors together is still present and it is that, above everything, which will in the end be the catalyst that propels the name de Hauteville to the pinnacle of power as they face the mighty Saracen Emirs of Sicily and undertake, with papal blessing, the first true crusade of the eleventh century.
Volume #3 in the Conquest trilogy. At the head of the de Hauteville family stands Robert, who has only one aim: to expand his power by military conquest. Roger, the youngest of the brothers, is a great fighter and canny politician. In company—and sometimes in conflict—with Robert, he will seek to raise the family to become rulers in their own right. Their chosen enemies are the mighty Saracen Emirs of Sicily, and conquest comes before all . . . even if the path is not easy.