Crusader Gold

The hero of David Gibbins Crusader Gold is underwater archeologist Jack Howard who as the story opens is conducting a dive in the harbour of Istanbul. Here he is hopin to discover treasures dumped of the Golden Horn by Crusaders who ravaged Constantinople at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Many works of art condemned as Pagan were disposed of in this way and the one that Jack Howard is after is the Menorah. Taken from Jerusalem by the Romans the Menorah was a seven branched lamp made of solid gold which stood on the altar table in the Temple of Solomon. Lodged in the Temple of Peace in Rome it was removed to Constantinople when the centre of the Empire moved to the East but all trace was lost after the pillaging of 1204. Discoveries in Hereford Cathedral bring the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada into the mystery and take Jack Howard and his team to Greenland and South America before the mystery is solved. Also in the plot is a secret brotherhood dedicated to the spirit of Hardrada. Yes folks another secret brotherhood! There are so many of these around I feel I must be the only bloke who is not a member of one. Brotherhoods aside David Gibbins has followed his excellent Atlantis with another ripping yarn of adventure on and under the high seas guaranteed to entertain through a sunny or rainy afternoon.