Helena P. Schrader earned a PhD in History from the University of Hamburg with a ground-breaking biography of a leader of the German Resistance to Hitler. After a number of years in the private sector, she was commissioned in the U.S. Foreign Service and served as an American diplomat in Africa and Europe. She retired in December 2018.
Helena has published numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, most recently focusing on the history of the crusader states. Her Jerusalem Trilogy, a series of biographical novels set in the Holy Land in the late 12th century, won twelve literary accolades. Her current fiction project, exploring the struggle between the Holy Roman Emperors and the barons of Outremer, got off to a good start by taking Gold (1st) in the Readers’ Favorites Book Awards 2019 and Silver (2nd) in the Feathered Quill Book Awards 2019, as well as being a finalist for the Chaucer Award and earning a B.R.A.G. medallion. In addition, she is researching for a non-fiction book, "Beyond the Seas: The Story of the Crusader States," which will bring together recent scholarship on the Latin East into a single volume aimed at non-academics.
For more on the crusader kingdoms and Balian d’Ibelin visit: http://www.defenderofjerusalem.com or follow her blog at: http://defendingcrusaderkingdoms.blogspot.com.