William Marshall rose from a minor baronial family to become one of the most powerful men in England, as Regent in the minority of Henry III. This study is more than an account of Marshall's meteoric rise to power however - for what makes him unique in medieval historiography is that he is the only man of his class for whom a contemporary biography has come down to us. David Crouch's study reveals the values, expectations andlifestyle of an aristocratic society in the middle ages.