José Luis Corral Lafuente was born in Daroca (Zaragoza) in 1957. He is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Zaragoza and has been a visiting lecturer at various universities in Spain and abroad. Known as the “master of the contemporary Spanish historical novel”, he is the author of 30 or so essays and books of historical research, such as Historia de la pena de muerte (History of the Death Penalty, 2004), Breve historia del temple (Brief History of the Knights Templar, 2006) and Una historia de España (A History of Spain, 2008), of around 250 historical articles in various Spanish and international magazines and, among others, of the novels El salón dorado (The Golden Salon, 1996), El amuleto de bronce. La epopeya de Gengis Kan (The Bronze Amulet. The Epic of Genghis Khan, 1998), El invierno de la Corona. Pedro el Ceremonioso (The Winter of the Crown. Peter the Ceremonious,1999), El Cid (2000), Trafalgar (2001), Numancia (Numantia, 2003), El número de Dios (God’s Number, 2004), Fulcanelli. El dueño del secreto (Fulcanelli. Master of the Secret, 2008) and Fátima. El enigma de las apariciones (Fatima. The Mystery of the Apparitions, 2009). His latest novel, La prisionera de Roma (The Prisoner of Rome, 2010) has had great success with the reading public.