Lionheart and Lackland: King Richard, King John and the Wars of Conquest

click here for more details, find new or used items	F.J. McLynn Our price £6.99 (£9.99) New from £5.19 Used from £5.31 Pages: 592 (Paperback) ISBN: 071269417X Pub: Vintage Pub date: 2007-10-04 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4749

Reader Reviews:

John bashing all the way through (0/2 people found this helpful)

Two stars, although it should really be three, but the fact that the author does not have a good word for John and not a bad word to say about Richard after a while gets repetitive and frankly boring. It's a shame as the historical side is excellent but the character assassination of John just gets too much.

Personal bias... (1/3 people found this helpful)

This is actually a good read, the reason I have given it 3 stars is due to the bias displayed by the author. He seems to worship the cult of Richard and take every opportunity to highlight John's many failings. What he says may well be true but I dislike unobjective historical writing.

An excellent intro to this time period (2/2 people found this helpful)

For many years I have been captivated by the tales of Robin Hood and as I've gotten older I started devloping an interest in what this period of time was actually like, I wanted to find out what was really going on, not just what I'd grown up watching. This book has achived this, it sorts the fact from the fiction and didnt leave me dissapointed.

This book has provided a totally enjoyable & informative read, clearly written and full of detail, written not just for the scholar but for the average Joe too!

Weather you are just comming into this period of time or not I would say that this is must read.

Lackland & Lioheart (2/2 people found this helpful)

I found this book very interesting and engaging. Despite having no understanding of this period or the Angevin kings at all, I found it easy to read. There is a large amount of detail (the book is huge) but written in a clear style, with many engaging titbits and stories included. It also draws a vivid picture of the characters of both John and Richard. Although I should be doing my history coursework purely on John, it is a testament to this book that I ended up reading all of Richard's section too (his Crusade against Saladin being particularly interesting.) However, it is more of a story than perhaps a balanced historical assessment - it is very anti-John, based purely on McLynn's perception of his character. I also feel the conclusion was rather skimpy for such a long book!
Nevertheless, an engaging and enjoyable read.

An excellent, readable introduction to the subject (2/2 people found this helpful)

This is an excellent narrative history that draws on the works of some of the finest scholars of the period. It summarises many of the views and produces the author's own interpretations in a clear, coherent and rational manner.
I can strongly recommend it to anybody with a passing interest in the period - although academic, it is written for the layman.

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