Baudolino

A self-confessed liar spins a fascinating tale of his life in this “comic and brilliantly baffling” historical novel by the author of The Name of the Rose ( The Guardian , UK).   Constantinople, 1204 . The Byzantine capital is under siege by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors—and proceeds to regale him with the fantastical story of his life.