A masterful eipc of love, war, treason, plague, famine, witchcraft, anti-Semitism and the Inquisition. 14th-century Spain, the medieval city of Barcelona is enjoying a golden age of prosperity. Its humblest inhabitants are building, stone by stone, a magnificent church to overlook their harbour. This is the Cathedral of the Sea: a church to be built for the people by the people. In its shadow, Arnau, a young serf on the run from his feudal lord, struggles to earn his freedom. After famine, plague and thwarted love, Arnau's fortunes begin to turn when King Pedro makes him a baron as a reward for his courage in battle. But he is also forced to marry Eleonor, a ward of the King whom he does not love. His newfound status excites jealousy from his friends who plot his downfall with devastating consequences. Arnau's journey from slave to nobleman is the story of a struggle between good and evil that will turn Church against State and brother against brother ...

Ildefonso Falcones'first novel,Cathedral of the Seabecame a publishing legend with over a million copies sold in Spain alone. It has since been published in over forty countries, becoming a European bestseller. InThe Hand of Fatima, Falcones marked the four hundredth anniversary of the expulsion of the Moors from 17th Century Spain. His latest novel THE BAREFOOT QUEEN has already sold over a million copies in Spain. It tells of the tumultuous birth of Flamenco in Spain. Falcones is a practising lawyer in Barcelona where he lives with his wife and four sons.

A spell-binding drama set against the sprawling canvas of the medieval age - a bestselling historical masterpiece>