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Succeeds brilliantly in combining page-turning intensity with eye-opening insights into the bizarre ritual of judicial combat in the Middle Ages. --The Times (London) This high-suspense, sanguinary tale ensnares readers. . . . The tension is nearly unendurable. . . . Sex, savagery, and high-level political maneuvers energize a splendid piece of popular history. --Kirkus Reviews An enthralling story that reads like fiction but is based on reliable sources. A world of passion, cruelty, and mismanaged law. --Norman Cantor, author of Inventing the Middle Ages and In the Wake of the Plague If you read only one book about the Middle Ages, Eric Jager's thriller is the one to read. --Steven Ozment, author of A Mighty Fortress and The Burgermeister's Daughter Eric Jager uses the historical record to marvelous effect when recounting the riveting story of two men locked in mortal combat. . . . Two worlds duel in this fascinating portrait of an end of an age-the feudal aristocracy and the chivalric court--and who we deem the true victor is brilliantly left open to interpretation in Jager's engrossing tale. --Margaret F. Rosenthal, author of The Honest Courtesan A spectacular panorama of the late Middle Ages. . . a historical thriller that leaves us with the impression of having known and lived in another world. It combines the vivid erudition of Barbara Tuchman's Distant Mirror with the suspense and drama of Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. Eric Jager has invented a genre that reminds us that human nature has not changed very much over the ages and that sometimes reality is bigger than life and more riveting than fiction. --R. Howard Bloch, Augustus R. Street Professor of French, Yale University

“Succeeds brilliantly in combining page-turning intensity with eye-opening insights into the bizarre ritual of judicial combat in the Middle Ages.”—The Times (London) “This high-suspense, sanguinary tale ensnares readers. . . . The tension is nearly unendurable. . . . Sex, savagery, and high-level political maneuvers energize a splendid piece of popular history.” —Kirkus Reviews “An enthralling story that reads like fiction but is based on reliable sources. A world of passion, cruelty, and mismanaged law.” —Norman Cantor, author of Inventing the Middle Ages and In the Wake of the Plague “If you read only one book about the Middle Ages, Eric Jager’s thriller is the one to read.” —Steven Ozment, author of A Mighty Fortress and The Burgermeister’s Daughter “Eric Jager uses the historical record to marvelous effect when recounting the riveting story of two men locked in mortal combat. . . . Two worlds duel in this fascinating portrait of an end of an age-the feudal aristocracy and the chivalric court—and who we deem the true victor is brilliantly left open to interpretation in Jager’s engrossing tale.” —Margaret F. Rosenthal, author of The Honest Courtesan “A spectacular panorama of the late Middle Ages. . . a historical thriller that leaves us with the impression of having known and lived in another world. It combines the vivid erudition of Barbara Tuchman’s Distant Mirror with the suspense and drama of Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose. Eric Jager has invented a genre that reminds us that human nature has not changed very much over the ages and that sometimes reality is bigger than life and more riveting than fiction.” —R. Howard Bloch, Augustus R. Street Professor of French, Yale University

Succeeds brilliantly in combining page-turning intensity with eye-opening insights into the bizarre ritual of judicial combat in the Middle Ages. -The Times (London) This high-suspense, sanguinary tale ensnares readers. . . . The tension is nearly unendurable. . . . Sex, savagery, and high-level political maneuvers energize a splendid piece of popular history. -Kirkus Reviews An enthralling story that reads like fiction but is based on reliable sources. A world of passion, cruelty, and mismanaged law. -Norman Cantor, author of Inventing the Middle Ages and In the Wake of the Plague If you read only one book about the Middle Ages, Eric Jager's thriller is the one to read. -Steven Ozment, author of A Mighty Fortress and The Burgermeister's Daughter Eric Jager uses the historical record to marvelous effect when recounting the riveting story of two men locked in mortal combat. . . . Two worlds duel in this fascinating portrait of an end of an age-the feudal aristocracy and the chivalric court-and who we deem the true victor is brilliantly left open to interpretation in Jager's engrossing tale. -Margaret F. Rosenthal, author of The Honest Courtesan A spectacular panorama of the late Middle Ages. . . a historical thriller that leaves us with the impression of having known and lived in another world. It combines the vivid erudition of Barbara Tuchman's Distant Mirror with the suspense and drama of Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. Eric Jager has invented a genre that reminds us that human nature has not changed very much over the ages and that sometimes reality is bigger than life and more riveting than fiction. -R. Howard Bloch, Augustus R. Street Professor of French, Yale University

Author Information

Eric Jager holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has also taught at Columbia University. An award-winning professor of English at UCLA, he is the author of two previous books, including The Book of the Heart (a study of heart imagery in medieval literature) and numerous articles for acclaimed academic journals. He lives in Los Angeles.

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