In the spring of 1996, armed men broke into a Trappist monastery in war-torn Algeria and took seven monks hostage, using them as pawns in a murky plot to free imprisoned terrorists. Two months later the monk's severed heads were found in a tree, their bodies were never recovered. The village of Tibhirine had sprung up around the monastery because it was a holy place, protected by the Virgin Mary who is revered by Christians and Muslims alike. But napalm, helicopters and gunfire had become regular accompaniments to the monastic routine as the violence engulfing Algeria drew close to the isolated cloister. These seven monks were martyrs to their Muslim neighbours, whom they refused to desert in their hour of need.