Lionheart

Lionheart

Author: Sharon Kay Penman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2011-10-04

Total Pages: 621

ISBN-13: 1101547871

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “The great Crusader king Richard the Lionheart comes alive in all his complex splendor in this masterpiece of medieval tapestry.”—Margaret George A.D. 1189. After the death of his father, Henry II, and the early demise of two of his brothers, Richard is crowned King of England and immediately sets off for the Holy Land. This is the Third Crusade, marked by internecine warfare among the Christians and extraordinary campaigns against the Saracens. Richard’s surviving brother, the younger John, is left behind—and conspires with the French king to steal his brother’s throne. Only their mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, now freed from decades of captivity, remains to protect Richard’s interests and secure his destiny. In this engrossing saga, Sharon Kay Penman delivers a novel of passion, intrigue, battle, and deceit. Lionheart is a sweeping tale of a heroic figure—feared by his enemies and beloved by those he commanded—who became a legend in his own lifetime. “[Sharon Kay] Penman displays her usual grasp of sweeping historical events as well as an uncanny ability to get inside the hearts and minds of her real-life characters. Her reputation for character-driven, solidly detailed historicals is richly deserved.”—Booklist “The beautifully described settings and the characters’ interactions are simply outstanding.”—The Historical Novels Review “Penman takes historical writing to a whole new level.”—The Sacramento Bee “[A] gritty, unsentimental, and richly detailed epic.”—Publishers Weekly Don’t miss the exclusive conversation between Sharon Kay Penman and Margaret George at the back of the book.


Chronicles of the Crusades

Chronicles of the Crusades

Author: Geoffrey Villehardouin

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2012-03-09

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0486149854

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This book features two eyewitness accounts of the Crusades: Villehardouin's Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople and Joinville's Chronicle of the Crusade of St. Lewis. A pair of engrossing narratives by actual participants, these are among the most authoritative accounts available of the medieval Holy Wars. They recount terrifying scenes from the battlefields that recapture the horror of warfare, and offer invaluable insights into the religious and political fervor that sparked the two hundred-year campaign. The first reliable history of the Crusades, Villehardouin's work spans the era of the Fourth Crusade, from 1199–1207. It traces the path of a small army of crusaders who despite overwhelming odds captured the city of Constantinople. Joinville's chronicle focuses on the years 1248–1254, the time of the Seventh Crusade. Written by a prominent aid to King Louis of France, it offers personal perspectives on the pious monarch and his battles in the Holy Lands. Both of these highly readable histories provide rare glimpses of medieval social, economic, and cultural life in the context of the crusaders' quest for honor, piety, and glory.


Saracens

Saracens

Author: John Victor Tolan

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0231123337

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Medieval Christian writers distorted the teachings of Islam and caricatured its believers in a variety of ways. This book provides a comprehensive study of Christian polemical responses to Islam in the Middle Ages.


Chronicles Of The Crusades

Chronicles Of The Crusades

Author: Henry G. Bohm

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-28

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 1136200703

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First published in 2006. This important book presents three of the most interesting contemporary accounts of the Crusades. The first, by Richard of Devizes, tells us of events taking place in the Holy Land and their connection to contemporaneous events in England. The second account is work by Geoffrey de Vinsauf on the Third Crusade. It is an eye-witness account of the ferocious assaults which Saladin made on the Christians and of the firmness with which Richard the Lionheart repulsed them. The third work is a memoir of Saint Louis, the Crusading King of France, written by Lord John de Joinville. All of the texts are valuable for their content as well as contrasting points of view they bring to light.