Hot-tempered, high principled and ""the most celebrated soldier in Christendom,'' Montfort enters into bitter conflict with his brother-in-law, becoming leader of the barons who oppose Henry's irresponsible leadership. The lives of highborn English, Welsh and French families intersect and painfully collide through complex ties of royal kinship: Montfort's wife, Nell is sister to King Henry III, one of England's most incompetent monarchs. The novel initially suffers from a dual focus, however, since Penman is equally concerned with the descendants of Llewelyn Farr of The Sunne in Splendour, who united the Welsh lords in an uneasy peace. Penman, a writer whose fidelity to historical detail is matched by her gift for narrative, makes Simon, Earl of Leicester, one of her central characters in this sweeping, dramatic saga set in the 13th century. The histories of France and England were significantly shaped by the causes he espoused and the battles he fought. It is a mystery why Simon de Montfort's name is not as instantly recognizable as those of Charlemagne and Richard the Lionhearted.
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