The Normans in the South is the first of two volumes that recount the dazzling story of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. It is the story of Robert Guiscard who was perhaps the most extraordinary European adventurer between Caesar and Napoleon. In one year, 1084, he had both the Eastern and Western Emperors retreating before him and one of the most formidable of medieval Popes in his power. The Normans in the South details the creation of a cosmopolitan kingdom whose remaining monuments still dazzle us today.

John Julius Norwich was born in 1929. He joined the British Foreign Service after studying French and Russian at Oxford, and left the service in 1964 to become a writer. He has also worked extensively in radio and television, hosting the popular BBC radio panel game My Word! for several years, and writing and presenting historical documentaries. His many books include an acclaimed Byzantium trilogy.