Book excerpt: The Warrior Prince of Antioch Bohemond-nicknamed because of his large size as a child-was a Norman soldier and adventurer who became a pivotal figure among the committee of nobleman leaders of the First Crusade. He learnt his military craft at the side of his father Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria. Upon the death of his father, Bohemond went to war with his half-brother, Roger and his mother to reclaim what he considered his lost birthright. The outcome was a partial victory in the award of the principality of Taranto, but it was clearly not enough for a man of his enormous ambition, intellect and military prowess. The First Crusade in 1096 provided the opportunity he required. Irrespective of his religious convictions, which may have been inconsiderable from the outset, Bohemond all but led the crusade with more military success than were achieved in the two subsequent crusades. He defeated and ejected his Muslim enemies from the principal object of his ambitions-Antioch-and then held it in defiance of the claims to it by Alexius of Byzantium. This was a fascinating man was-quite literally-a giant figure of the Norman period in every sense. Available in soft cover and hard back with dust jacket.