Joan of Arc: A History - Hardcover

Castor, Helen

3.75

1,988 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571284620 ISBN 13: 9780571284627

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2014

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Fresh from telling the story of England's queens before Elizabeth in her bestseller She-Wolves, acclaimed historian and broadcaster Helen Castor tells the story of Joan of Arc as you have never read it before.

'Popular history at its best.' Daily Telegraph

Helen Castor brings us afresh a gripping life of Joan of Arc. Instead of the icon, she gives us a living, breathing young woman; a roaring girl fighting the English, and taking sides in a bloody civil war that was tearing fifteenth century France apart.

Here is a portrait of a 19-year-old peasant who hears voices from God; a teenager transformed into a warrior leading an army to victory, in an age that believed women should not fight. And it is also the story behind the myth we all know, a myth which began to take hold at her trial: that of the Maid of Orleans, the saviour of France, a young woman burned at the stake as a heretic, a woman who five hundred years later would be declared a saint.

Joan and her world are brought vividly to life in this refreshing new take on the medieval world. Helen Castor brings us to the heart of the action, to a woman and a country in turmoil, a world where no-one - not Joan herself, nor the people around her, princes, bishops, soldiers or peasants - knew what would happen next.

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Review:

'A triumph - brings the real Joan and her time to dramatic, moving and brilliant life.' (Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets)

Joan of Arc: a History is popular history at its best: pacy, clear and undergirded with a formidable array of scholarly footnotes. Helen Castor shows how well it can be done. (Diarmaid MacCulloch Daily Telegraph)

There have been many lives of Joan, and books about her times, some of them excellent. But none is quite like Castor's ... [her] book is a historian's achievement. (Janet Nelson Guardian)

[A] vivid and intelligent biography ... hugely impressive. (Andrew Lynch Sunday Business Post)

Clear and elegant ... an engaging piece of popular scholarship that does not diminish Joan's star, but instead uses its light to illuminate a remarkable age. (Rachel Moss Times Higher Education)

Excellent ... perhaps Castor's greatest achievement is to remind us of just how extraordinary Joan was. (Linda Porter Literary Review)

'Compelling ... [Castor] succeeds triumphantly in rescuing [Joan] from the various straitjackets in which she has been confined ... a fascinating and privileged insight.' (Christopher Hart Sunday Times)

An elegant, subtle biography of great historical integrity and sensitive understanding. Castor lets the humanity of Joan's story shine through. (Kate Mosse Evening Standard)

'A fascinating biography ... truly thrilling.' (Kathryn Hughes Daily Mail, Book of the Week)

'Enlightening ... [an] elegant and vivid account.' (The Times Charles Bremner)

Book Description:

Joan of Arc, by Helen Castor, is the story of Joan of Arc as you have never read it before, excitingly retold by one of our finest historians.

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