Tancredi is born on the same day that scientists discover a small planet they jokingly call Surprise. A planet so insignificant that it went unnoticed for millennia reveals, on closer inspection, that it will develop into supernova and is destined to be the instrument of Armageddon across the Universe. Made rich by his invention of the MoronOmeter, Tancredi decides to make it his mission to save the world and buys a ticket on a space ship making its maiden voyage to the stars. Beautifully illustrated and reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels and The Little Prince, Tancredi is in turn shocking and profound, undercut with the dark humour that made Tomas so scandalous and successful.

This is the first translation into English of Ralph of Caen's Gesta Tancredi. This text provides an exceptionally important narrative of the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath, covering the period 1096-1105, but is often neglected, due in no small part to the difficulties of its Latin. A native of the Norman city of Caen where he was a student of Arnulf, the future patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1107 Ralph joined Bohemond of Taranto's army as a military chaplain. After arriving in the East, Ralph took service with Bohemond's nephew Tancred, who ruled the principality of Antioch from 1108 to 1112. Although dedicated to Arnulf, the Gesta Tancredi focuses on the careers of Bohemond and, especially, of Tancred. It is one of the most important sources - indeed the most important Latin source - for the Norman campaigns in Cilicia (1097-1108), and for the early Norman rule of Antioch. The work as a whole has a striking Norman point of view and contains details found in no other source, providing a corrective to the strong northern focus of most of the other narrative sources for the First Crusade.

This is the first translation into English of Ralph of Caen's Gesta Tancredi. This text provides an exceptionally important narrative of the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath, covering the period 1096–1105, but is often neglected, due in no small part to the difficulties of its Latin. A native of the Norman city of Caen where he was a student of Arnulf, the future patriarch of Jerusalem, in 1107 Ralph joined Bohemond of Taranto's army as a military chaplain. After arriving in the East, Ralph took service with Bohemond's nephew Tancred, who ruled the principality of Antioch from 1108 to 1112. Although dedicated to Arnulf, the Gesta Tancredi focuses on the careers of Bohemond and, especially, of Tancred. It is one of the most important sources - indeed the most important Latin source - for the Norman campaigns in Cilicia (1097–1108), and for the early Norman rule of Antioch. The work as a whole has a striking Norman point of view and contains details found in no other source, providing a corrective to the strong northern focus of most of the other narrative sources for the First Crusade.

Reso musicalmente celebre da Claudio Monteverdi nel 1638, questo episodio della Gerusalemme Liberata mantiene, a distanza di quasi quattro secoli, un grande fascino e attualità, nella sua evidenza drammatico- teatrale. Il tema del testo è impostato su Amore, Duello in una fatale situazione umana, Morte, come soluzione finale, sia pure sublimata da una mistica pace. Nel raffronto inevitabile con il Combattimento di Monteverdi il testo, in questa versione, è assolutamente identico a quello originale del Tasso e quasi simile a quello musicato da Monteverdi, con l'aggiunta, però, rispetto a questo, di due stanze di otto versi ciascuna, poste per una più chiara fedeltà al testo del Tasso. Le voci: due tenori e soprano, come in Monteverdi, gli strumenti sono quasi gli stessi. L'espressione generale si rapporta all'ideale classico, che è poi quello del testo.