A brilliant historical novel that immerses the reader in the merciless era of the Inquisition and provides a vivid impression of the life and beliefs of the Cathars. For a year, a small band of Occitan knights defends the rock fortress of Montségur against the army of the French king and the crusading forces of the Pope. Two hundred Cathars, members of a group of Christians persecuted as heretics, have entrusted themselves to the protection of the knights. If the fortress falls, the stakes of the Inquisition await them. The events of this book are not fictional. They took place in the early months of the year 1244.