By the critically-acclaimed and bestselling author of REBELS AND REDCOATS An epic book with a cast of fantastically devious and colourful characters A description of how military adventurers fought, poisoned, betrayed and cheated their way through fifteenth-century Italy The much-neglected story of the military Renaissance 'anyone who opens this book will quickly be drawn into an extraordinary world of military rivalry and power-politics' -- SUNDAY TELEGRAPH review of CRESCENT AND CROSS '[A] lively book... [the reader] will be grateful for the informative tables, maps and chronologies which punctuate the narrative at reassuring intervals' BBC History Magazine 'A very informative and entertaining read' Italy Magazine

"A story of unbridled lust, treachery and murder featuring an extraordinary array of characters, who fought, poisoned, betrayed and cheated their way into an enduring legacy" HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER

Hugh Bicheno is himself a Renaissance man. He has had careers as an academic, an intelligence officer and a freelance kidnap and ransom negotiator in South America. He now devotes himself to writing about men at war, and co-authored the bestselling REBELS AND REDCOATS, written in conjunction with Richard Holmes. He lives in Cambridge.