This
is a well-researched, well-told story of King Richard I after he went on
crusade. Returning to France with the best of his faithful men, he moves to
take back what the French king took from him while he was gone. Taken captive
by the Holy Roman Emperor in violation of the papal decree protecting all
crusaders, Richard spends fifteen months chained in a dungeon and imprisoned in
Germany while his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine moves heaven and earth to raise
the exorbitant ransom. And what a woman!
I love how Penman adds fiction to the real story to bring it alive for the reader. The characters will draw you into their lives. Richard emerges, as in Lionheart, as a hero with no equal. For the five years remaining to him, he faces betrayals, intrigues, wars, and illness. His marriage never seemed to be what he or his wife might have wanted and she produced no children. But you will see why the courage, compassion, and intelligence of Richard became the stuff of legend.
Highly recommended but start with Lionheart.
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