Grunwald: A Novel of the Baltic Crusade

Grunwald: A Novel of the Baltic Crusade

By: Susan Altstatt

Shortly before marrying her husband, John, the author and he were allowed to go through the two Victorian houses belonging to John's recently passed Polish grandmother and take what they wanted. In a paper bag, in the basement of a house of treasures, the author discovered, "the most beautiful book I have ever seen." It was all in Polish, which neither John nor his mother could read. The author could tell it was the 500th anniversary of Grunwald, "but what and where was that?" So, she took to the Stanford Library and taught herself about the conversion of the last pagan people in Europe and the Baltic Crusades, a magnificent, glorious, alternate history. And now, years later, she's written a book about it.

About the Author

Susan Altstatt has a BA in theater arts from Stanford, Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, with a MA in Drama from UCLA, where she won a Samuel Goldwyn award for playwriting. Since then, she has placed in the top five of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. (ABNA) Susan lives in Silicon Valley with her engineer husband, John. Together they have three daughters, one a professor of early music, one a professor of art, and one a marine biologist.