The Bigod Chronicles is a novel with an epic sweep of medieval history that places real characters into actual events. Book One Ilger, takes our story across two continents,from the religious dogma of the west to the fearsome brutality of the crusades. Antioch has fallen to the crusader army and for now the killing is over...but at what cost? Typhus is taking the lives of thousands and Ilger Bigod d'Ige lies dying on a soiled straw mat. Hugo de Payen witnesses the miracle of his survival and takes young Ilger under his wing. Believing Ilger was spared for a divine reason, Hugo watches helplessly as the innocent knight unwittingly joins the forces of evil in Jerusalem and seems determined to corrupt his soul...all the way to the edge of hell. In England, a young and troublesome Hugh Bigod vies with William his elder brother for the attention of their father. What begins as sibling rivalry descends into a grown-up world of abuse and bitter recrimination, from where there is no turning back.