Richard the Lion Heart.

The figure of Richard the Lionheart has drawn storytellers for centuries, and this volume takes up his life of battle, crusade and legend.

What it's about

The book recounts the career of Richard I of England, the warrior king remembered less for governing his realm than for his exploits abroad, above all his part in the Third Crusade and his famous contest of arms and wits with Saladin. It follows the arc familiar from chronicle and romance, the making of a soldier-king, the long campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean, the captivity and ransom, and the death that closed a restless reign.

Themes

Chivalry, kingship and the ideals and cruelties of the crusading age run through the story. Richard stands as an emblem of martial glory, and the account is interested in how such a reputation is earned and burnished into legend.

Why it still matters

Richard remains one of the most recognisable of medieval monarchs, woven into the Robin Hood tradition and into the wider Western memory of the Crusades. A life like this offers a way into that period's values and its violence.

Who it's for

For readers of medieval history and heroic biography, and for anyone drawn to the age of knights, castles and crusade.