Series of The Crusades

Ahead of now, I have been making plans since before I even began my trilogy. I have often asked myself, what's next? Here is the answer to that.

After my Third Crusade is finished and published, I would like to write at least one book on the First Crusade...perhaps more, depending how much enthusiasm there is by that point to do it. But at least one book on the First Crusade, which I began working on back in September 2010, but delayed as I felt a story on the Third Crusade could better reach an audience, due to its characters like Richard I or Saladin being more familiar to most people. My story of the First Crusade would probably focus on Godfrey de Bouillon mostly, although certainly others would be included. This story is also an amazing one and anyone having interest in military or church history or just good stories in general should find it so, as well. It is my intent to tell the true story of it.

From the First Crusade, I clearly know there are numerous other crusades that took place in history. Most being of little knowledge to most people, and there are plenty of good stories from this era that should be told. Still, my primary focus is to keep Jerusalem central, and the main most influencing wars that were holy wars. These are the stories I am trying to tell. The other story I would like to tell would be of a different time in history, a time that nothing in history had ever seen like before it. It would be set in that great struggle, called ''The War to End All Wars''. Today we call this cataclysmic struggle: World War One.

Most history books have overshadowed it with the second World War.  How many events from it are known to most people? D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, and numerous others! Then there is World War One, which is hardly thought of by most people at all, and what is known is very little: the Red baron, Sergeant York, Battle of Somme. But what about the war in the Middle East, the liberation of Jerusalem in 1917. My own story of World War I will concentrate on the likes of General Edmund Allenby and Sir Harry Chauvel among others. The people and events may be mentioned in the accounts of T. Lawrence of Arabia. Many of the British soldiers called themselves crusaders, and in legend, after Jerusalem was taken it is said that General Allenby said,  ''The Wars of the Crusades are now complete.'' Jews rejoiced at the liberation of Jerusalem by the British. Muslims also were glad to be free from the tyrannical grip of the Ottoman Empire. It was here in the First World War that would establish the foundations for the future nation of Israel.

Thus will be my series of the Crusades.

The Third Crusade Trilogy

 Also known as Warriors of Christendom Trilogy or Kings and Crusaders Trilogy, my books: Kings and Crusaders, The Storming Rage, and The Final Journey follow the key characters King Richard I of England, Sir Peter de Preaux, and Sultan Saladin of Syria. Others that are significant people in the trilogy that are in one or more of the books include major characters listed  in the following.

   King Guy of Jerusalem
   Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa of Germany
   Princess Berengaria of Navarre{ becomes queen of England upon her loving marriage to Richard I}
   Princess Joan of England{ starts off as queen of Sicily, but loses her power at her husband's death.
   King Philip of  France
   Duke Hugh of Burgundy
   Hospitaller Grand Master Garnier de Nablus
   Templar Grand Master Robert de Sable
   Sir William des Roches
   Baron Conrad of Montferrat of Tyre
   Emperor Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus
   King Henry of Acre{ originally the count of Champagne}
   Queen Isabella of Acre
   Sir Balian d' Ibelin
   Chaplain William of Poitiers{ become the priest of Jaffa}
   Sir William des Preaux
   Prince Al Adil of Syria
   General Muzaffar al-Din Gokbori{ was called the Blue Wolf}
   General Taqi al- Din
   Earl Robert of Leicester
   Duke Leopold of Austria



 There are more soldiers and other than this but I listed the most important people in this post. While direct research has been taken from numerous sources, I must now come to an important announcement, and that is that my trilogy is coming to a close.  My books teach much different views of the crusades than what most modern sources do. While America has apparently had popular interest  in the crusades since the 1970s. I clearly believe there is still a wide audience out there that will read my books. I have been surprised by the success of my blog in other nations, and hope to reach further the European audience.  There is a facebook page called Warriors of Christendom  Trilogy by Joshua Dotson. I invite any people who will read my books to like it.
 One more notice to my readers.  The first draft to The Final Journey is nearly complete. It is so far more than 800 pages. I predict it to be finished within another 100.