Nearly 900 years after Duke Godfrey de Bouillon embarked on the First Crusade, Tim Severin set out with one woman and two horses to retrace his steps.

Starting out from Chateau Bouillon in Belgium with the same breed of Ardennes Heavy Horse used by Duke Godfrey, Severin followed the historic trail for eight and a half months. Riding out of the green countryside of northern Europe into the heat and parched landscape of the Near East, he and his companion covered more than 2,500 miles, past ruined Crusader settlements and ancient battlefields, through arduous mountain passes and across barren Anatolian steppes.

Across Germany, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Syria, he followed the precise route of the medieval voyagers towards their common destination: Jerusalem.

In this dazzling synthesis of adventure, practical history and exploration, Severin assesses just how far Duke Godfrey could have travelled each day, which routes the Crusaders would have taken, and how they would have cared for themselves and their horses.