Here are 79 books that Brethren fans have personally recommended if you like
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I have always been passionate about history–especially military history, and have collected books since I was a child. In time, I became particularly absorbed with the medieval world, building up a comprehensive library of books on all aspects of life during this fascinating time. In my research, I have traveled to all of the locations mentioned in the book: East Anglia, Bremen, Lübeck, and Latvia. I particularly love trying to bring the characters to life, fitting them, and creating an interesting plot around actual historical events.
I have always been fascinated by medieval history, but I became interested in this particular era after reading this book and learning about the German Order of Swordbrothers (Schwertbrüderorden).
What intrigued me was that they were a small Order, not very pious or saintly. They were unorthodox and argued constantly with Bishop Albert, the leader of the Christian mission. They were a rough and ready lot, acting more like brigands than warrior monks. One of the brothers murdered the first master, and they locked up their second master when he tried to exert more control over their behavior. Over time, they were accused of almost every crime.
I loved Christiansen’s book, which opened a new world of discovery. He writes in a witty, easy-to-read style that hooked me from the beginning.
The 'Northern Crusades', inspired by the Pope's call for a Holy War, are less celebrated than those in the Middle East, but they were also more successful: vast new territories became and remain Christian, such as Finland, Estonia and Prussia. Newly revised in the light of the recent developments in Baltic and Northern medieval research, this authoritative overview provides a balanced and compelling account of a tumultuous era.
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I have always been passionate about history–especially military history, and have collected books since I was a child. In time, I became particularly absorbed with the medieval world, building up a comprehensive library of books on all aspects of life during this fascinating time. In my research, I have traveled to all of the locations mentioned in the book: East Anglia, Bremen, Lübeck, and Latvia. I particularly love trying to bring the characters to life, fitting them, and creating an interesting plot around actual historical events.
This is an action-packed book that tells the story of Ferdia, an Irish noble, who is held as a hostage in Wales to ensure the good behavior of his father. He faces relentless bullying and persecution before saving the life of King Richard III and entering his court, where he becomes the king’s squire. The action continues in France as Richard attempts to put down a rebellion, but the larger threat to Ferdia himself turns out to be a member of King Richard’s own family.
The book has all the ingredients of an epic historical adventure, with thrilling action, relentless battles, and intrigue. I particularly enjoyed Kane’s vivid description of the 12th-century world and the authentic period details. The series continues with Crusader and King.
1179. Henry II is King of England, Wales, Ireland, Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine. The House of Plantagenet reigns supreme.
But there is unrest in Henry's house. Not for the first time, his family talks of rebellion.
Ferdia - an Irish nobleman taken captive during the conquest of his homeland - saves the life of Richard, the king's son. In reward for his bravery, he is made squire to Richard, who is already a renowned warrior.
Crossing the English Channel, the two are plunged into a campaign to crush rebels in Aquitaine. The bloody battles and gruelling…
I have always been passionate about history–especially military history, and have collected books since I was a child. In time, I became particularly absorbed with the medieval world, building up a comprehensive library of books on all aspects of life during this fascinating time. In my research, I have traveled to all of the locations mentioned in the book: East Anglia, Bremen, Lübeck, and Latvia. I particularly love trying to bring the characters to life, fitting them, and creating an interesting plot around actual historical events.
I first read this book over thirty years ago and it is set during the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in Southern France. There is a major love and romance element to the plot that sees Roland, a troubadour, pitted against his half-brother Amalric.
I bought the book second-hand and have read it a few times over the years. Beforehand, I knew very little about the brutal Inquisition and the Albigensian Crusade in particular, and this book ignited my interest in a period not often covered in historical fiction. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this little-known period of history.
Lured by the glory of the Crusades, legendary troubadour Roland battles the evil Amalric, the Inquisition, and infidel armies for the love of two women--Diana, a hunted Cathar heretic, and Nicolette, wed to Amalric
This book is an elegiac meditation on the will to survive. Tor, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station in the Svalbard archipelago when they misjudge ice conditions and fail to…
I have always been passionate about history–especially military history, and have collected books since I was a child. In time, I became particularly absorbed with the medieval world, building up a comprehensive library of books on all aspects of life during this fascinating time. In my research, I have traveled to all of the locations mentioned in the book: East Anglia, Bremen, Lübeck, and Latvia. I particularly love trying to bring the characters to life, fitting them, and creating an interesting plot around actual historical events.
William Urban is an American history professor who specializes in the Baltic Crusades. He is probably the pre-eminent English-speaking historian on this subject and has written many other books–mostly on this theme or the Teutonic Knights. I particularly enjoy his no-nonsense writing style. The book has proven invaluable in my own research as it just concentrates on the Crusade in Livonia and Estonia in the first half of the 13th century–as well as showing the other political events taking place in Germany at the time.
Urban was a great help to my own book. He kindly read an earlier draft of Sword Brethren and gave me some crucial historical advice. He has also agreed to read the next book in the series early in 2025, and I await his opinion with anticipation.
I’ve always been fascinated by history, and when I dreamed of being an author, imagined I’d write historical fiction. However, it took many writing detours to arrive there. (Nim’s Island, by the way, has no basis in historical fact!). When I first imagined the story that led to the Minoan Wings trilogy, I fell in love with researching this era, which is particularly intriguing because there are virtually no written records. Visiting the ruins of a four-thousand-year-old town on Crete under the guidance of an archaeologist who had not only excavated there but had become passionately involved with my imaginary characters, was an absolute highlight of my life.
I fell in love with the irrepressible Pagan as soon as I read this book. It’s difficult to imagine that life with the Knights Templar at the time of the Crusades was highly amusing – but despite the wealth of knowledge and detail that informs this book, it is wry and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Who wouldn’t love Pagan’s favorite curse: "Christ in a cream cheese sauce’?"
Wham! So here I am, standing in a sea of dirt, with a big mad Templar lobbing rocks at my head. Wham! Like some kind of martyr. Wham! He throws like a catapult.'All right, Pagan, that's enough.' (I should damn well think so.) 'Do you see what your problem is?'Wait - don't tell me. You are.It's twelfth-century Jerusalem, the time of the Crusades. Shrewd and scrappy Pagan has been plucked from the streets to work for Lord Roland, a Templar knight. Set against a background of mounting tension as Saladin's infidels close in on the Holy City, Pagan's Crusade is…
I became fascinated by history when, as a child, I visited the Coliseum in Rome; my father told me, “This is where they fed the Christians to the lions.” That awakened my curiosity for people of the past, and I went on to earn an undergraduate degree and a PhD in history at the Universities of Michigan and Hamburg respectively. My interest in the crusades was ignited by the enormous disconnect between popular perceptions and historical reality, and I have published two nonfiction books on the Crusader States, as well as seven novels set in the era of the crusades. The Knights Templar were an important component of my research.
Regina Pernoud is one of my favorite scholars on the Middle Ages generally. Her books, Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths, and Women in the Days of the Cathedrals, are witty and well-aimed attacks against ignorance and prejudice.
In this book on the Knights Templar, she takes on with verve the many myths and misconceptions about the Templars. I particularly loved her analysis of Templar architecture, which starts with looking at the more than 9,000 Templar commanderies across Western Europe and their humble agricultural character.
Her chapter on the Templars’ banking activities is really more a dissection of the myth about Templar wealth and is completely compelling. All in all, this is a book that brings you back to reality and away from the silly conspiracy theories that still dominate so much literature about the Templars.
For centuries, historians and novelists have portrayed the Knights Templar as avaricious and power-hungry villains. Who were these medieval monastic knights, whose exploits were the stuff of legend even in their own day? Were these elite crusaders corrupted by their conquests, which amassed them such power and wealth as to become the envy of kings?
Indignant at the discrepancies between the fantasies, on which "writers on history of every kind and hue have indulged themselves without restraint", and the available evidence, RTgine Pernoud draws a different portrait of these Christian warriors. From their origins as defenders of pilgrims to the…
Tina Edwards loved her childhood and creating fairy houses, a passion shared with her father, a world-renowned architect. But at nine years old, she found him dead at his desk and is haunted by this memory. Tina's mother abruptly moved away, leaving Tina with feelings of abandonment and suspicion.
As my father was a keen amateur historian, family holidays always involved visits to medieval castles, abbeys, and Roman antiquities, but it wasn’t until I’d finished a University history degree and started training as an accountant that I encountered the Templars. Reading a primary source from the Third Crusade, I found the medieval author praised the Templars – yet few modern histories mentioned them, or, if they did mention the Templars, they claimed they were unpopular. My curiosity led me to undertake a PhD on medieval attitudes towards the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights, and eventually to a university post and a professional career in medieval history, writing history books focused on primary sources.
Alain Demurger is the world’s leading expert on the French Templars during the trial of the Order.
This book, originally published as La Persécution des Templiers Journal(1307–1314), narrates the events of the Templars’ trial as they unfolded day by day, allowing readers to follow the twists and turns in proceedings. I confess that I read the French edition of this book, but I’m sure that the English version is just as compelling!
Alain Demurger has also written an excellent history of the Templars and assembled a reference guide to all the Templars in France during the trial – but these are not available in English.
The definitive account of history's most infamous trial, following the doomed Order of the Knights Templar from scandal to suppression.
The trial of the Knights Templar is one of the most infamous in history. Accused of heresy by the king of France, the Templars were arrested and imprisoned, had their goods seized and their monasteries ransacked. Under brutal interrogation and torture, many made shocking confessions: denial of Christ, desecration of the Cross, sex acts, and more.
This narrative follows the everyday reality of the trial, from the early days of scandal and scheming in 1305, via torture, imprisonment and…
Life is taking a bite of the comedy/tragedy sandwich, savoring the mix of flavors, deciding how you feel about the taste, and taking another bite. I love writing that can gather experiences from across the emotional spectrum and incorporate them into a narrative that is absurd and all the more true because of it. These five books do it better than the rest.
Overstuffed and labyrinthine, Eco’s novel dives into a highly academic rabbit hole of conspiracy theories that toss me head over heels like a strong wave in the ocean. It reads a bit like The DaVinci Code written by Thomas Pynchon (who we’ll get to in a minute), the paranoias stemming from historical entities like the Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians.
I’d be hard-pressed to provide an accurate summary of events, but it all makes for a pleasantly bewildering reading experience.
Three book editors, jaded by reading far too many crackpot manuscripts on the mystic and the occult, are inspired by an extraordinary conspiracy story told to them by a strange colonel to have some fun. They start feeding random bits of information into a powerful computer capable of inventing connections between the entries, thinking they are creating nothing more than an amusing game, but then their game starts to take over, the deaths start mounting, and they are forced into a frantic search for the truth
I've been fascinated by medieval history ever since I played hide and seek around Welsh castles as a boy. At university – a medieval invention, of course – I was able to sit at the feet of some of the finest historians of the Middle Ages, experts like Maurice Keen and Patrick Wormald. As a writer, I have tackled medieval subjects like Alfred the Great and Richard III, as well as the history of English rebellion. I have come to realise that the Middle Ages could be cruel and violent, just like our own time, but that they were also a time of extraordinary achievements that form the foundations of the world we live in.
I blame Dan Brown, but mention the Templars and you are usually met with a glazed look, as if you’re about to share your favourite conspiracy theory. William Watson’s book is a class, if not a universe, apart from Brown and co. It is an almost unbearably vivid re-creation of the world of the crusader kingdoms, and the corruption at the heart of Europe that first sustained and then destroyed their knightly protectors. In spare, unshowy prose, Watson demonstrates the darker side of the Middle Ages, in all its forbidding glory.
In the chaotic aftermath of the fall of Acre in 1291 and the reconquest of the Holy Land by the Moslems, the last survivors of the Order of the Temple make their bloody retreat from the Middle East. Loading the treasure of their Order into a decrepit, leaky vessel, they set sail for Europe, where, unbeknownst to them, King Philip of France plots their destruction. Among their number is Beltran, a native of the Holy Land, who has led the life of a soldier-monk for the past thirty years. World-weary yet incorruptible, Beltran is guardian both of the treasure and…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I became fascinated by history when, as a child, I visited the Coliseum in Rome; my father told me, “This is where they fed the Christians to the lions.” That awakened my curiosity for people of the past, and I went on to earn an undergraduate degree and a PhD in history at the Universities of Michigan and Hamburg respectively. My interest in the crusades was ignited by the enormous disconnect between popular perceptions and historical reality, and I have published two nonfiction books on the Crusader States, as well as seven novels set in the era of the crusades. The Knights Templar were an important component of my research.
Historical accuracy is important to me. I am not interested in fantasy or alternative history, so when I read about any topic, whether in fictional or nonfictional form, I want books based on the historical record. Malcolm Barber is one of the leading scholars on the Knights Templar of the last three decades.
This book is a concise summary of his scholarship and is for me the absolute bible on the history of the Knights Templar.
The Order of the Temple, founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims around Jerusalem, developed into one of the most influential corporations in the medieval world. It has retained its hold on the modern imagination thanks to the dramatic events of the Templars' trial and abolition two hundred years later, and has been invoked in historical mysteries from Masonic conspiracy to the survival of the Turin shroud. Malcolm Barber's lucid narrative separates myth from history in this full and detailed account of the Order, from its origins, flourishing and suppression to the Templars' historic afterlife.
