Set against the backdrop of a troubled college in the nineties, the story unfolds at Briarpatch College, where a series of mysterious events, including the drowning of the academic dean and the suspicious death of the president, have left the administration reeling. As the new president attempts to restore order, the shocking discovery of the librarian's body threatens to unravel the fragile stability and expose the dark secrets hidden within the campus community.
A story of war and the persons and institutions that waged it during the two key centuries when warriors became soldiers and soldiers became servants of the state.
The history of the Teutonic Knights is one of crusading in an era of wars, intrigues, assassinations and betrayals. Originally established as a hospital order during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land in the late 12th century, the order evolved into a formidable military force dedicated to defending and expanding Christianity in the Baltic region. This book explores the crusade aimed at Lithuanian pagans in the Middle Ages, when crusaders from the Holy Roman Empire, France, England and Scotland came to Prussia to fight alongside the Teutonic Knights. What ensued was a long-drawn out, many-sided struggle, with Lithuania and Poland first becoming powerful states, then expanding into Belarus and Ukraine, where the Mongols and Tatars had long held sway. The book culminates with Lithuania converting to the Roman Catholic Church and the dramatic sieges of Vilnius. Written by two leading experts on the Crusades in an enjoyable and compelling style, this is an accessible narrative of a complex political and military history.