Crossed

<p>In the year 1202 tens of thousands of crusaders gather in Venice preparing to embark for Jerusalem to free the Holy City from Muslim rule. Among them is a lowly vagabond Briton rescued from damnation by a pious knight who burns with zealous fire for their sacred undertaking. And so they set sail along with dedicated companions--and with a beautiful mysterious Arab princess whom the vagabond liberates from a brutish merchant. But the divine light guiding their righteous campaign soon darkens as the mission sinks ever deeper into catastrophe disgrace and moral turpitude--as Christians murder Christians in the Adriatic port city of Zara tragic events are set in motion that will ultimately lead to the shocking and shameful fall of Constantinople.</p><p>Impeccably researched and beautifully told Nicole Galland's <em>Crossed</em> is a stunning tale of the disastrous Fourth Crusade--and of the hopeful brave and driven who were caught up in and irrevocably changed by a corrupted cause and a furious battle beyond their comprehension or control.</p>