The Man Who Came After Hyacinth Bobo

THE MAN WHO CAME AFTER HYACINTH BOBO The title of the novel comes from the central character, young Pope Innocent III, who launches the Fourth Crusade hoping to drive the Saracens out of the Holy Land for ever, thus triumphantly trumping his despised predecessor Pope Celestine, born Hyacinth Bobo. Alas, Pope Innocent sees his beloved crusade go horribly wrong... The blockbuster story starts in 1195, ends in 1211 and ranges over France, Italy, Germany, Greece and Turkey, with a feisty English courtesan, two Grail poets and a passionate central love affair for good measure. The plot twists and turns and the climax is the horrific sack of Constantinople, the greatest city in Christendom, by the Pope's crusaders.