Richard I (Penguin Monarchs)

Richard I (Penguin Monarchs)

The Crusader King

Summary

'Here is the English sovereign as a crusader, battling on the fringes of the known world; the warrior-king ... imbued with the heart of a lion'

Even within his own lifetime Richard I, dubbed the 'Lionheart', attained a kind of semi-mythical status as a paragon of chivalry, yet his reign is both controversial and full of contradictions. Seeking to reconcile the conflicting evidence, Thomas Asbridge's incisive reappraisal of Richard I's career questions how the memory of his life came to be interwoven with myth.

About the author

Thomas Asbridge

Thomas Asbridge is a historian of the Middle Ages specializing in the study of the crusades, knighthood and chivalry, and is Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London. He is the author of The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land, The First Crusade: A New History and The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power behind Five English Thrones. He also wrote and presented the landmark three-part BBC Two television series The Crusades.
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