Section - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Maps Section - iii: Epigraph Section - iv: Prologue Introduction - v: Introduction Section - vi: A Note on Money Chapter - 1: A Way of Living, and a Way of Dying Chapter - 2: A New Kingdom Chapter - 3: Love Chapter - 4: Holy War Chapter - 5: An Exemplar of Defeat Chapter - 6: Ruler of Gascony Chapter - 7: A New Enemy Chapter - 8: The Seizure of Power Chapter - 9: The Reform of the Kingdom Chapter - 10: Rule by Conscience Chapter - 11: Betrayal Chapter - 12: Revolution Chapter - 13: Triumph Chapter - 14: Disaster Chapter - 15: Evesham Section - vii: Epilogue Section - viii: Notes Index - ix: Index
A riveting account of the warrior knight who overthrew his king and seized the reins of power in medieval England.
Dr Sophie Thérèse Ambler is a historian of medieval Europe and the Crusades. She is a Lecturer in Medieval History at Lancaster University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has appeared on radio and TV for BBC and Channel 4, and written for BBC History Magazine and The Historian. She divides her time between Lancaster and London.
One of the finest medieval biographies of recent years.
*The Times*
This is an astonishingly assured debut by an extremely talented
young historian. Exhaustively researched and beautifully written,
it traces the remarkable life of a military and political giant of
the medieval period who has never been more convincingly
portrayed
*Daily Telegraph*
It’s hard to get into the heads of people who lived 800 years ago.
This book goes further than you might think possible, by a clever
use of letters, legal documents and chronicles; at times, we really
can hear this man speak . . . This is a remarkable book:
beautifully presented (with good maps and illustrations), finely
written and based on a deep, scholarly knowledge of the sources.
It’s rare to find a story and a storyteller so well matched.
*Sunday Telegraph*
Sophie Therese Ambler’s engaging new biography will enthral and
horrify in equal measure … The Song of Simon de Montfort is a
well-researched, elegantly written and lively portrait of a
problematic figure. Sunday Times
*Sunday Times*
Amid the valley of dry bones, Ambler breathes life into sources
that might otherwise seem arid or dull. Her narrative is expertly
paced. Whenever the story threatens to sag or falter, she skips
over the drier deserts of fact, moving us from the routine to the
remarkable . . . From Evesham to the killing fields of the Hundred
Years' War and the Wars of the Roses, Simon de Montfort's chief
legacy was slaughter and woe. This is, therefore, a song more of
lament than of triumph. It is a song that Sophie Therese Ambler
sings supremely well.
*Literary Review*
Riveting . . . a vivid psychological portrait of the charismatic
knight through small but enlightening details of character . . .
The Song of Simon de Montfort is an engaging foray from a talented
historian into one of the most important but least understood eras
in English history.
*TLS*
A dramatic story, told here with clarity and insight
*History Revealed*
Sophie Thérèse Ambler is a dazzlingly talented historian and in her
debut biography offers a bold and brilliantly written reassessment
of one of (British) history’s most misunderstood figures – the
reformer, rebel and scourge of the Plantagenets, Simon de Montfort.
Alive with human detail and acute political judgement, this book
marks the arrival of a formidably gifted historian.
*Dan Jones*
Gripping, detailed, and ingenious, The Song of Simon de Montfort is
a compelling and thrilling story of England's very first
revolution. With her beautiful prose, Sophie Ambler successfully
crosses the gap between narrative and academic history and brings
Simon de Montfort vividly to life
*Dr Estelle Paranque, author of Elizabeth I of England Through
Valois Eyes*
For such a pivotal figure in English history, Simon de Montfort’s
remarkable story is one that has been sadly neglected by mainstream
history books. Ambler’s riveting volume redresses the balance
brilliantly, recounting the electrifying build-up to the nation’s
first revolutionary movement and the emergence of a nascent
Parliament with page-turning skill.
*Waterstones Top History Books of 2019*
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