Rora

With the inspiring spirit of Braveheart and Gladiator, James Byron Huggins tells the astonishing story of one man€s fight to save his village €“ the tiny hamlet of RORA €“ from annihilation at the hands of the Inquisition and the combined armies of France, Italy, and the Roman Catholic Church.

Surrounded by 20,000 soldiers but defended by a town marshal named Joshua Gianavel, the 130 men and women of Rora made their last stand in an epic act of defiance that inspired both horror and admiration across Europe.

Set in 1655, the historical War of Piedmont remains a battle that has baffled historians and military experts since the people of RORA defeated the three armies, won their right to religious freedom, and destroyed the tyranny of the Inquisition in a conflict that still stuns those who read it.

Huggins masterfully brings the real life characters of Oliver Cromwell, the poet John Milton, and other famous historical figures into the story, re-creating their profound wisdom and dialogue as each fought their part in the war.Yet Huggins€ greatest achievement is in capturing the spirit, mind, and life of Joshua Gianavel, a mesmerizing mountain man of unexplainable military genius and profound faith who led RORA to its incredible victory when all the world, watching in horror, said that victory was utterly impossible.