The Road to Jerusalem

jan guillou anna paterson

The hero of this phenomenally successful historical trilogy is Arn Magnusson, born in 1150 to an aristocratic Swedish family. THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM covers his childhood and education at the Cistercian monastry of Varnhem. There he is taught the best of spiritual and worldly learning, as well as being trained to become a master archer and swordsman by the giant Brother Guilbert, a former knight. At seventeen, equipped to become a monk or a warrior, Arn returns home, a young man and yet an innocent in the ways of the world. Two sisters cross his path: one seduces him, while with the other sister, Cecilia, he falls deeply in love. In loving two sisters he has committed a crime punishable by both civil and clerical authorities, and he is sentenced to serve 20 years as a Knight Templar in the Holy Land.

Genres historical fictionfictionhistoricalswedish literaturemedievalswedenadventurescandinavian literaturefantasyreligion

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1998

Series

The Crusades Trilogy

This edition

Format: 320 pages, Paperback
Published: December 5, 2002 by Orion
ISBN: 9780752848372
ASIN: 0752848372
Language: English

Characters More characters

Saladin

Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب‎, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, Kurdish: سه‌لاحه‌دین ئه‌یوبی, Selahedînê Eyubî , Persian: صلاح‌الدین ایوبی, Salāh-ed-Dīn-e Ayyūbī) (c. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western w...
Baldwin Iv Of Jerusalem

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (1161–16 March 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. His full sister was Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem and his nephew...
Birger Jarl

Birger Jarl or Birger Magnusson; (c. 1210 – 21 October 1266) was a Swedish statesman, Jarl of Sweden and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden....
Arn Magnusson

...
Eric Ix Of Sweden

Was called Eric the Holy, Saint Eric and Eric the Lawgiver. Swedish king in the 12th centruy. He was the founder of the House of Eric which ruled Sweden from 1156 to 1250...
Birger Brosa

Jarl of Sweden 1174-1202....

About the author

jan guillou

Jan Oscar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (born 17 January 1944) is a Swedish author and journalist. Among his books are a series of spy fiction novels about a spy named Carl Hamilton, and a trilogy of historical fiction novels about a Knight Templar, Arn Magnusson. He is the owner of one of the largest publishing companies in Sweden, Piratförlaget, together with Liza Marklund and his common-law wife, publisher Ann-Marie Skarp.

Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist. In 1973, he and co-reporter Peter Bratt exposed a secret intelligence organization in Sweden, Informationsbyrån (IB). He is still active within journalism as a column writer for the Swedish evening tabloid Aftonbladet.

In October 2009, it was revealed that Guillou had been recruited by the KGB in 1967. The exposure of his activities came after the tabloid Expressen requested the release of documents from the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) and published information from the Säpo files along with information gained through interviews with former KGB Colonel Oleg Gordievsky about Guillou's case. The records showed that Guillou's involvement with the KGB continued for five years, until 1972.

From Wikipedia