In the year 1191, a monk named Roger dreams of becoming a knight and helping to free Jerusalem from Saladin and the Saracens – and of maybe, just maybe, finding the father who abandoned him as a baby. When he is unjustly accused of murder, Roger flees for his life and joins the crusade of Richard the Lionheart.In the Holy Land, Roger is introduced to the grim realities of war. He thrives, though, and rises through the ranks to become commander of a company known as the Death’s heads. He loses one love and finds another, and he suffers a crisis of faith as he watches the huge crusading army being destroyed by disease and famine while the dream of freeing Jerusalem seems as far away as ever. And his other dream, the one about finding his father, seems as far away as ever, too—or is it?"Death’s Head" illuminates a little-known but significant moment in history, one whose outcome resonates through the years to the present day. It is a story of war and love and the faith that enables ordinary men to perform extraordinary deeds.

With the long siege of Acre ended, Roger and the Death’s Heads join King Richard in the march on Jerusalem. Richard defeats Saladin at the battle of Arsuf, but is reluctant to move on the Holy City because he fears a trap. Richard tries to hold his fractious army together and lure Saladin to destruction, but he faces a challenge to his leadership from Conrad of Montferrat. Meanwhile, Fauston gets rich selling relics, and Roger attempts to rescue Ailith, who is being held as a slave by the emir Qaymaz.

Yes, I've changed the title. "The Crusaders" is now "Death's Head, A Tale of the Third Crusade." "Part The Great Adventure" tells how a monk named Roger leaves his abbey and joins the tide of knights and soldiers headed toward the Holy Land to avenge the Christian defeat at Hattin and the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin. Abandoned at the abbey as an infant, Roger has never felt at home in the restrictive confines of the Church. He wants to see the world. He wants to be a knight and do great deeds, like his idol, Richard the Lionheart. He wants to help free Jerusalem. But he is bound by his religious vows and is forbidden to leave. Then he saves a peasant girl from being assaulted, and everything changes ... "The Siege. Death's Head, Part II."

Roger, a runaway monk wanted for murder in England, arrives in the Holy Land and takes part in the siege of Acre, which has been going on for a year and a half with no end in sight. Untold numbers of men have already succumbed to battle and disease, yet more arrive every day, eager to do their part in the great crusade. Roger enlists in the forces of Geoffrey, earl of Trent. A common soldier now, Roger meets old friends and makes new ones – and makes deadly enemies, as well. The crusaders besiege the city on one hand, while they are besieged by Saladin and his army on the other. This leads to stalemate. The crusaders long for the arrival of Richard the Lionheart, but no one knows where he is. Winter comes, bringing rain, disease, and famine. Men die by the thousands and Roger faces a crisis of faith as he wonders whether such suffering can ever be worth the goal.

1191 AD The siege of Acre goes on. Roger loses one love and finds another. A spy in the Christian camp must be stopped. Richard the Lionheart and King Philip of France arrive at Acre, and just as it seems the city is finally on the point of falling, Saladin launches an attack intended to drive the crusaders into the sea.