Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar (published in 2006) - Historical fiction, authored by Robyn Young

The time of the Crusades were a fascinating period for history buffs and historians, because of the sheer changes that happened in the Holy Land during the time period of the Crusades. Getting control of the Holy Lands in the Middle East was decreed as a holy duty, and participating in this holy duty was seen important for most European rulers and noblemen. Getting control of the holiest city of Jerusalem was the top mission, but it was not just this city. The area around the city and numerous strategic points had to be controlled as well; on the other side were some elements of the Mongols and more important, there were the Egyptians who saw the Holy Land as their territory and saw it as their holy duty to rid the land of these Christian invaders who were coming in from Europe and trying to set foot in their territory.
During these periods, there were some very impressive warriors who were involved in the crusades and the fight by the Egyptians, with names such as Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, and others. Among the others were the Marmaluk dynasty from Egypt, with many of their Sultans seeing it as their duty to follow in the footsteps of Saladin and remove these foreign fighters from these lands. And in the midst of all this were the people of these cities, forts and of the overall area, who wanted to make a living and were forever in danger. For anybody who has done some amount of historical readings, the Crusades were a very bloody time period. Overall, war itself involved huge casualties, and not only of the soldiers, but also of the citizens who were in grave danger of being killed, or at the minimum, looted or sent into slavery. But these battles during the Crusades had religious sanction for the blood-letting, and it was not uncommon for a victorious army to kill not only the opposing army but even all citizens of the conquered city.




This book is set in such a time period. It takes some real historical characters, and some fictional, tracking their lives during a specific period of the Crusades. And of course, it also makes extensive use of a historical society, the Knights Templar, who became incredibly powerful and were answerable only to the pope. On the one side, you have a young boy, William Campbell, who has been admitted to the Knights as a young sergeant, hoping to become a Knight here. His father is already in the Holy Lands along with the Knights. On the other side is the young slave, Baybars, who became a commander to the various Sultans; he was extremely ambitious and when the Sultan would not give him what he wanted, he was ready to get rid of the Sultan and finally take the power to himself.
And in the middle of all this is a book. This is where the story takes a meander, since the Book is about an inner council of the Knights Templar, and in a land where the very sniff of heresy could get you burnt at the stake, the Book talks in terms of a Grail Romance, and could very easily be used by a rival to destroy the Knights. And along with their power, the Knights had a number of enemies, since royal dynasties typically did not like power centers in their kingdom that reported only to the Pope (and also, the Knights would have lent money to the King and were not above demanding their money, acting as an equal to the King). So, there are multiple people hunting for this book, including the future king of England (Edward, known in history as Edward Longshanks) and the action slowly moves to the Holy Land where Baybars is being ruthless in his desire to rid the whole place of the corrupting influence of the Franks, and vows to defeat all the Crusaders.
The book is well researched and moves between the different characters, taking a short time period of history that was clearly significant (the rise and rule of Baybars was significant). The book also does not shirk from showing the brutality of war, although it does tend to depict Baybars as ruthless and cruel, while he is seen as a hero in the entire Middle East. And of course, the Crusaders were equally likely to be ruthless and murdering entire cities when they took them. Somehow, the end is a bit of a let down since the story becomes flat near the end. The end is an interesting anti-climax situation, but overall, the book was interesting.

Puck of Pooks Hill (published in 1906) - A fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling, a Nobel laureate was born in India to a vivacious Alice Kipling and sculptor Painter, John Kipling. His works range from poems, to children's books. Rudyard was a English language writer whose prose is peppered with colloquial usage and languages mainly from India which opens a window to the prevailing culture and customs of the time. His children's stories are the most endured classics of the time and his short stories are the most sought after. Many of his works are deemed to be controversial as the time progressed. Rudyard Kipling was the product of an imperial India where imperialism under Queen Victoria was at its heights. His poems like 'White Mans Burden' are often sited as a clarion call for the imperialist and has been criticized by subsequent humanist. But as one of the youngest Nobel Prize recipient for English Language, the place for Kipling in human history cannot be discounted and his prose and poems enthuse millions even today. Kipling died in 1936 in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
These are series of stories which Kipling has taken from historical accounts and is basically about the Kings and Queens of yesteryears in Europe. So you have Queen Elizabeth, King henry, Roman Generals, Fairies, pirates and vikings striding across the pages in a glorious procession before your very own eyes.



The story starts with two children Dan and Una who stage their version of “The Midsummer Nights Dream” thus pulling the naughty fairy Puck in to their midst. Puck magically transports them across ages where they see a Norman Knight, a Renaissance artisan, Saxons, Picts, Norsemen (Vikings), a Chinese slave-master, Kings, Queens and many others, each of whom imparts his respective piece of England's history. The fantasy stories starts with:

Weland's Sword: It tells the account of the Norseman conquest where Weland the great smith forges the sword through which he conquers a country and a princess.

The Young man of the Manor continues the saga of the Norman conquest and introduces Sir Richard Dalyngridge who takes part in the conquest and wins a manor.

The Knight of the Joyous venture depicts the voyage by the Danes along with Richard Dalyngridge and other captured prisoners.

Old Men of Pevensy tells the story of intrigue in the court of Henry I when he is in Pevensy.

Centurion of the Thirtieth is the story of Parsimus who is a Roman soldier who goes to battle with the general Magnus Maximus. It tells the conquest of Gaul by the general.

On the great Wall tells us about the Hadrian Wall which was built by the Romans and it defense against the invaders.

The Winged Hats continues with the Hadrian Wall and the defense of general Magnus Maximus.

'Hal o' the Draft' is the tale of deception, mutiny and beheading involving the explores Sebastian Cabote and Privateer Andrew Barton

Dymchurch Flit is a fairy tale where Puck disguises himself as Tom Shoesmith and tells the story of widow Whitgift who loaned her sons to help others.

“The treasure and the Law” is about a Jewish money lender Kadmiel whose shrewdness is instrumental in signing of the Magna Carta ushering in peoples law in England.

All these tales are in the realm of historical fantasies and educate the children about the law and evolution of the land (England) they live in. beautiful and delightful and a must read for all ages.