From Frederick of Bayeux, a preux chevalier in William of Normandy's victorious army at Hastings, to Fred and Hal Barber, who found gold in the Witwatersrand in the 1880s and helped in the expansion of the Transvaal - their name survives in Barberton - Norman blood and Norman characteristics flow through the men and women who populate this exciting action-filled historical drama. Passion, warfare, retribution and the 'otherworld' of sorcery, magic stones and social stigma are worked into a majestic overview of what drove our Viking - Northmen - Norman ancestors to travel to the edges of the world, to push on and see the business through. 'The Barbers,' adds the author, 'always had an affinity for making sense of the unknown world. This fanned the flames of their exploration work.' And may their spirit live on...