A New York Times bestseller, this major new history of the knights Templar is "a fresh, muscular and compelling history of the ultimate military-religious crusading order, combining sensible scholarship with narrative swagger" - Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem A faltering war in the middle east. "Dan Jones is an entertainer, but also a bona fide historian. Seldom does one find serious scholarship so easy to read." a group of skilled fighters willing to fight till death to defend Christianity's sacred locations. a world financial system that is unreachable by any authority. a devious scheme built on a web of deceit.