[Antoninus]

Though this is a very Catholic book, its message is transcendent. Highly recommended.

[NTHockey]

Pelayo gave his daughter in marriage and land to the knight who killed the Mohammedan emir . They.took their surname from the surrounding mountains.

And thus was my family tree started.

[billorites]

I was in Cangas de Onis in Asturias several summers ago. Lots of school groups visiting and learning about Pelayo and the battle of Covadonga.

It's a breathtakingly beautiful and mountainous area. Well worth a visit.

BTW, they eat well in Spain.

[Bookshelf]

Perhaps this can be his next book:
History of Warfare blog,
In early 989 AD a Viking fleet arrived with the promised 6000 Norseman. A few weeks later they crossed the straits of the Golden Horn under the cover of darkness and took up positions a few hundred yards from the rebel camp. At first light they attacked, while a squadron of imperial flame-throwers sprayed the shore with Greek fire. Phocas’s men awoke to the terrifying sight of the Varangians swinging their swords and battleaxes. The result was a massacre. Basil with the aid of the Varangians soon crushed the rebellion entirely. After the rebellion, the Varangians were immediately established as the emperor’s personal bodyguards. Anna Komnena writing in ‘the Alexiad’ claimed that the Guard were far more reliable and trustworthy as bodyguards than native Byzantine troops.

[Antoninus]

Catholic ping!

[Chainmail]

Sounds great to me.