The False Ambassador

"False Ambassador is a circular journey through a world just emerging from the Middle ages, forced by war and discovery into new ways of living and thinking." "The Renaissance. The dawn of modern civilisation? Or the last spasm of mediaeval brutality? Thomas Deerham, soldier and would-be scholar, has deserted from the English army in France. What should he aim for: wealth or wisdom? Pleasure or redemption? Who can help him? Not the deserters and brigands that swarm over France. Barely human, they offer nothing but death and destruction." In his search for a purpose, Thomas encounters fools and philosophers, friars and merchants, humanists and heretics. He is consoled by the Secrets of Love, discovered in an old book, but his curiosity leads him to commit a terrible crime. Released from prison, he must begin a second quest: to save his soul. He goes to the East, where two faiths are fighting for the greatest city in the world. He endures defeat and slavery, but a surprising encounter in Rome seems to offer the hope of redemption.