I have a passion for the Middle Ages dating to a childhood exploring the ruins of castles and cloisters in the (now) Czech Republic where I was born & raised, and where I first learned the difference between a halberd and a hauberk. Since historical novels were one of the few uncensored subjects behind the Iron Curtain, I became a voracious reader of the genre–Scott, Dumas, Sienkiewicz, Gogol, Balzac, Dickens, Bronte; then went on to Pargeter, Plaidy, Oldenbourg, Seton, Dunnett, Penman....and sundry "historical" romance novels. Although I became a real historian, historically-grounded epics and family sagas remain my favorite leisure reading. The Sixth Surrender and its sequel, The Serpent’s Crown are the result of research into the "career" of the Lusignans, an upstart, ambitious, and devious clan of 13th century French lords who managed to fight, marry, cheat, and sleep their way to the crowns of Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Armenia, and to nearly topple John of England from his throne. I have lived in Canada, and am currently living in the US, am married to an Englishman, and work as a consulting historian to the US Department of Justice on matters very much unrelated to my favorite subject.