A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom

The novel begins in first-century Palestine with two brothers born into a family divided between a violent father and an artistically gifted mother. Their opposing temperaments—one drawn towards domination, the other towards making and beauty—establish a pattern that recurs across generations. Names, occupations, relationships and countries change, but the central figures repeatedly encounter one another in new historical forms.

The narrative moves through two millennia and dozens of societies, carrying its recurring family drama from the Roman world through medieval, early modern, revolutionary, industrial and modern settings and eventually beyond the present. Rather than recreating one event, it uses the continuity of craft, violence, love and rivalry to compare different periods of human history. The changing settings show political systems and technologies transforming while intimate ambitions and inherited conflicts remain recognisable.