Brethren Trilogy

The Brethren Trilogy follows the Scottish-born Will Campbell from his apprenticeship within the Knights Templar to the destruction of the order in the early fourteenth century. Beginning during the last decades of the Crusader states, the novels move through London, Paris, Acre, Syria and Egypt as Will becomes involved with the Anima Templi, a secret group inside the Temple that seeks a political settlement between Christian and Muslim powers. Baybars, the former slave who becomes the dominant ruler and commander of the Mamluk world, provides the historical counterpoint to Will’s fictional career.

Brethren and Crusade explore the military orders, rival factions and collapsing truces of the late crusading age. Requiem carries the story west into Edward I’s war against Scotland and Philip IV’s assault on the Templars in France. Across the trilogy, religious conviction, political ambition, family loyalty and the pursuit of peace repeatedly conflict with the demands of an institution created for war.