The Celtic Crusades is an epic trilogy of a Scottish noble family fighting for its existence and its faith during the age of the Crusades. The series traces five generations of knights and noblemen over a span of almost 500 hundred years, during the crucial period when military and sacred history melded. Set against a backdrop of the declining Holy Roman Empire and its ruinous wars with the Saracen East, this series is full of exciting drama. Each of the three books centers on one of three periods of Crusades history as well as one significant relic: The Iron Lance features the spear that pierced Christ's side; The Black Rood, the cross itself; and The Mystic Rose, the grail. The Black Rood begins with Murdo, the courageous warrior from the first novel, as a grandfather and wealthy landowner in Scotland. When his brother returns home from the Holy Land, Murdo and his family enter into an exciting search for the Black Rood, a piece of the very cross upon which Christ died.