Could an Irish monk in the sixth century really have sailed all the way across the Atlantic in a small open boat, thus beating Columbus to the New World by almost a thousand years? Relying on the medieval text of St. Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side--their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves--to restitch...

Sailing across the Caribbean, Hector Lynch falls into the hands of the notorious buccaneer, Captain John Coxon. Hector’s two friends, Dan and Jacques, are released when Coxon mistakes Hector as the nephew of Sir Thomas Lynch—the Governor of Jamaica—an error that Hector encourages. Coxon delivers Hector to Sir Henry Morgan, a bitter enemy of Governor Lynch. The captain is expecting to curry favour with Henry Morgan but is publicly humiliated at a Christmas ball. From then on, Coxon seeks to revenge himself on Hector and the young seafarer finds himself on the run again.

In his latest adventure Hector Lynch follows his quest for the young Spanish woman, Maria, with whom he has fallen in love. His search takes him and his friends on a nightmare passage around Cape Horn where they come across a small warship entombed on an icefloe, her only crew two skeletons - the captain frozen to death in his cabin and a dog. The corpse is the long-missing brother of a local Spanish governor in Peru. In gratitude for learning his brother’s fate, the governor tells Hector that Maria has moved to the Ladrones, the Thief Islands, on the far side of the Pacific. On the way there, Hector’s ship picks up an emaciated native fisherman adrift on a sinking boat. He dupes his rescuers into thinking that his home is rich in gold. But his poverty-stricken island proves to be the jealousy guarded by a Japanese warlord who treats the visitors as trespassers. Only when Jezreel, the ex-prize fighter, defeats the Japanese swordsman in a duel can they escape. Reaching the Thief Islands, Hector allies with the native people, the Chamorro, to launch a night raid on the Spanish fort and is finally reunited with Maria. But will the young couple ever be able to settle down? As a known sea robber, Hector will only be safe where the law cannot touch him so their journey continues . . .

With his signature approach to literary sleuthing, Tim Severin retraces the footsteps of castaways and pirates to discover the inspiration behind Daniel Defoe's brilliant creation, Robinson Crusoe.

SUMMARY:Our story begins in the year 1001 and the toddler, Thorgils Leiffson, son of Leif the Lucky and Thorgunna, arrives on the shores of Brattahlid in Greenland to be brought up in the fostercare of a young woman - Gudrid. Thorgils is a rootless character of quicksilver intelligence and adaptability. He has inherited his mother's ability of second sight and his destiny lies beyond the imagination of those around him. Virtually orphaned, he is raised by various mentors, who teach him the ancient ways and warn him of the invasion of the 'White Christ' into the land of the 'Old Gods'. Thorgils is guided by a restless quest for adventure and the wanderlust of his favoured god, Odinn. His fortunes take him into many dangerous situations as well as to the brink of death by execution, in battle, disease and shipwreck'Ś Packed with wonderfully reimagined Viking sagas and adventures, and fascinating and unique characters, VIKING - Odinn's Child gives historical novel writing a new dimension.

Hector Lynch, wanted by the authorities in London for piracy, has come to St Mary's Island, near Madagascar, on his search for the elusive Libertalia - a settlement where it is said that all are allowed to live freely.Here, he meets Captain Henry Avery, captain of the freebooter Fancy, which is sailing north through the Indian Ocean in search of a huge haul of gold. Avery requires a navigator, and persuades Hector and his friends Jacques and Jezreel to join the voyage, with the promise that they should be free to leave if they come across the fabled Libertalia on their travels. Although Hector is reluctant to return once more to a life of piracy, his desperation to find a place he can finally settle with his wife Maria draws him in. The Fancy joins forces with other notorious pirate ships, including Thomas Tew's Amity, and as they sail up through the Arabian Sea, they encounter a convoy of the Grand Mogul's ships, including the...

Combining travel to remote islands and shores with brilliant literary detective work, Seeking Robinson Crusoe is a tale of adventure and discovery and is a fantastic journey into myth and history.Who was the real Robinson Crusoe? In search of the world's most famous castaway Tim Severin travels where men were shipwrecked or abandoned in the days of the pirates and buccaneers... and lived to tell their tales of survival.A Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk, has long been considered as the real life inspiration for Crusoe. So Severin begins his quest on the islands of Juan Fernandez 400 miles off the coast of Chile where Selkirk was marooned for four years.Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, also knew the extraordinary survival tale of an English buccaneer surgeon, Lionel Wafer, wounded in a pirate raid and abandoned in the jungle of Panama. So Severin goes to meet the Indian tribe, the Kuna, who rescued him. Carrying on his journey he finally takes a 100 year old sailing...

The next thrilling Saxon adventureRome, 799 AD. The Pope is viciously attacked in the street, by unknown assailants. Sigwulf, a Saxon prince who has been exiled to the court of King Carolus in France, is sent to Rome as a spy to discover who was responsible.There, he discovers a web of lies - the only clue to the attackers' identity is an intricate gold buckle in one of their homes, which Sigwulf links with a mysterious gold warrior flagon he finds in the home of the Pope's chamberlain. Could the attack have its source in even the highest levels of the church? Pope Leo had made enemies among the nobility on his rapid ascension to St Peter's Throne, and there are many who would see another in his place. Sigwulf believes the key to the plot in Rome may lie with the master craftsman who created the flagon, and his journey takes him deep into dangerous, uncharted Avar territory . . .

1677, on a late summer’s evening two ships lurk off the coast of southwest Ireland. They are Barbary corsairs from North Africa, slave catchers. As soon as it is dark, their landing parties row ashore to raid a small fishing village - on the hunt for fresh prey . . . In the village, seventeen-year-old Hector Lynch wakes to the sound of a pistol shot. Moments later he and his sister Elizabeth are taken prisoner. From then on Hector’s life plunges into a turbulent and lawless world that is full of surprises. Separated from Elizabeth, he is sold to the slave market of Algiers, where he survives with the help of his newfound friend Dan, a Miskito Indian from the Caribbean. The two men convert to Islam to escape the horrors of the slave pens, only to become victims of the deadly warfare of the Mediterranean. Serving aboard a Turkish corsair ship, their vessel is sunk at sea and they find themselves condemned to the oar as galley slaves for France. Driven by his quest to find his sister, Hector finally stumbles on the chilling truth of her fate when he and Dan are shipwrecked on the coast of Morocco . . .

The dazzling sequel to Odinn's Child and Sworn Brother - here is the triumphant conclusion to this epic Viking adventure Constantinople, 1035: Thorgils has become a member of the Varangian lifeguard and witnesses the glories of the richest city on earth but also the murderous ways of the imperial family. Under the leadership of warrior chief Harald Sigurdsson he is set up as the unwitting bait in a deadly ambush to destroy Arab pirates harassing the Byzantine shipping lanes in the Mediterranean. When Harald eventually ascends the throne of Norway, his liegeman Thorgils is despatched on a secret mission to Duke William of Normandy with a plan to coordinate the twin invasions of England. On 20 September 1066 Harald’s fleet of three hundred ships sails up the Ouse, confident of success, but a prophetic dream warns Thorgils that Duke William has duped his allies and the Norsemen are heading for disaster at Stamford Bridge. Thorgils embarks upon a race against time to reach and warn his liege lord before the battle begins. But will Odinn’s devout follower really be able to anticipate what fate has decreed and save the heritage of his Viking ancestors?