It is sixty years since the secret Brotherhood of Sion, founders of the Knights Templar, uncovered the treasure vouchsafed them beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Now the ambitious and ruthless Plantagenet King, Richard the Lionheart, leads the Third Crusade against Saladin, putting both the honour of the Templars and the mission of the Brotherhood at risk.

Andrew Sinclair is one of the few survivors of the Battle of Hattin in 1187. As a member of the clandestine Brotherhood he was taught Arabic before being sent to the Holy Land on a mission that neither the Order of Templars nor the leaders of the Pope's armies can know of. But Sinclair's captivity following the battle leads to a dangerous friendship with the infidel and threatens to divide his loyalty.

With his cousin, a fellow member of the Brotherhood, Sir Andre St Clair, arrives with King Richard from Cyprus. The secret mission they must pursue will lead them into the desert and the lair of the fearsome Assassins. And meanwhile Saladin's clever tactics in battle, including the butchery of the magnificent destriers, the massive horses that carry armoured Frankish knights, bring reversals to the Christian cause from start of the Crusade.

But it is Richard the Lionheart's treachery and deceit that convince both cousins that the Crusade is a sham, and that all men are venal and greedy, driven by the lust for power. Only their knowledge of the Order of Sion saves them from despair: their secret mission becomes more vital than ever before.

This glorious epic tells the true and truly astonishing story of the Knights of the Black and White.

Jack Whyte was born and raised in Scotland, and educated in England and France. He migrated to Canada from the UK, in 1967, as a teacher of High School English, but he only taught for a year before starting to work as a professional singer, musician, actor and entertainer. In the early 1970s, Whyte researched, wrote, directed and appeared in a one man show based on the life and times of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet.
Whyte's interest in the history of Britain springs from his early Classical education in Scotland during the 1950s, and he has pursued his fascination with those times ever since. Whyte is married, with five adult children, and lives in British Columbia, Canada.