{"title":"Helen Castor","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"joan-of-arc-book-helen-castor-9780571284627","title":"Joan of ARC","description":"Brings us afresh a gripping life of Joan of Arc. Instead of the icon, the author 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.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49507396550929,"sku":"GOR007215199","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49532904079633,"sku":"GOR006371963","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49882247790865,"sku":"GOR009252645","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50357892251921,"sku":"CIN0571284620A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0571284620.jpg?v=1750878957"},{"product_id":"blood-and-roses-book-helen-castor-9780571216710","title":"Blood and Roses","description":"The Wars of the Roses turned England upside down. Between 1455 and 1485, four kings, including Richard III, lost their thrones, more than forty noblemen lost their lives on the battlefield, and thousands of the men who followed them met violent deaths. This title tells how a family survived one of the tempestuous periods in English History.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49510246318353,"sku":"GOR002142201","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49528806310161,"sku":"GOR001495453","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49549386350865,"sku":"GOR002285420","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49729451688209,"sku":"NGR9780571216710","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49760741490961,"sku":"GOR008101520","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49967617179921,"sku":"CIN0571216714G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0571216714.jpg?v=1771498427"},{"product_id":"she-wolves-book-helen-castor-9780571237067","title":"She-Wolves","description":"'Highly readable, exciting and thought-provoking' - Hilary Mantel  'A gem of blood-and-thunder storytelling' - Dominic Sandbrook  In medieval England, man was the ruler of woman, and the King was the ruler of all. How, then, could royal power lie in female hands?  In She-Wolves, celebrated historian, Helen Castor, tells the dramatic and fascinating stories of four exceptional women who, while never reigning queens, held great power: Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou. These were women who paved the way for Jane Grey, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I - the Tudor queens who finally confronted what it meant to be a female monarch.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49511992394001,"sku":"GOR003298778","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49558006268177,"sku":"GOR003286488","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49649617830161,"sku":"GOR004245787","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49728707494161,"sku":"NGR9780571237067","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49960705720593,"sku":"CIN0571237061VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50062440988945,"sku":"GOR008442042","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52104766456081,"sku":"CIN0571237061A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52104768094481,"sku":"CIN0571237061G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52592768221457,"sku":"NLS9780571237067","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0571237061.jpg?v=1771503805"},{"product_id":"blood-roses-book-helen-castor-9780571216703","title":"Blood \u0026 Roses","description":"The Wars of the Roses turned England upside down. Between 1455 and 1485 four kings lost their thrones, more than forty noblemen lost their lives on the battlefield or their heads on the block, and thousands of the men who followed them met violent deaths. Yet almost nothing is known about the thoughts and feelings of the people who lived through this bloody conflict, whether king or noble, landowner or peasant. Almost nothing, but not quite. As they made their way in a disintegrating world, a Norfolk family called the Pastons were writing letters - about politics, about business, about shopping, about love and about each other. Extraordinarily, these letters have survived the centuries; they form the earliest great collection of private correspondence in the English language. More than five hundred years on, the Pastons' voices still have the immediacy of an overheard conversation. Blood and Roses traces the remarkable story of the Paston family across three generations. The world of the fifteenth-century aristocracy was a world of cut-throat snobbery and vicious power struggles, and the Pastons were newcomers to the game: an ambitious nouveau riche family striving to establish themselves among the landed gentry. They took part in the Wars of the Roses in supporting roles, but they were extraordinary characters in their own right: William Paston, the self-made man who founded the family's fortunes; his son John Paston, who embarked on his own battle to inherit the estates of the rich old soldier Sir John Falstaff, the model of Shakespeare's Falstaff; John's wife Margaret, who held the family together for forty years, raised seven children and defended the family's property from armed assault along the way; and their sons John II - a courtier with a passion for books and an eye for female company - and John III, the sensible, reliable brother, whose touching correspondence with his sweetheart includes the earliest surviving valentine in England.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49515882184977,"sku":"GOR002116847","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49612228886801,"sku":"GOR003432015","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49648937009425,"sku":"GOR003192319","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50560294191377,"sku":"GOR008225440","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0571216706.jpg?v=1751167745"},{"product_id":"blood-and-roses-book-helen-castor-9780007162222","title":"Blood and Roses","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"A gripping family saga. . . . Page-turners are rarely written by scholars of the 15th century, but Castor wears her learning admirably lightly. Blood and Roses is nothing less than a ripping yarn.\" --The Indepedent (London)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Wars of the Roses tore England asunder. Over the course of thirty years, four kings lost their thrones, countless men lost their lives on the battlefield or their heads on the block, and others found themselves suddenly flush with gold. Yet until now, little has been written about the ordinary people who lived through this extraordinary time.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBlood and Roses is a gripping, intimate story of one determined family conducting everyday business against the backdrop of a disintegrating society and savage civil war. Drawing on a rare trove of letters discovered in a tumbledown stately home, historian Helen Castor reconstructs the turbulent affairs of the Pastons through three generations of births, marriages, and deaths as they single-mindedly worked their way up from farmers to landed gentry. It is a remarkable chronicle of devotion, ambition, and survival that brings a remote and hazy era to vibrant new life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49518409089297,"sku":"CIN0007162227G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49889614823697,"sku":"CIN0007162227A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50484205584657,"sku":"CIN0007162227VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50526644502801,"sku":"GOR008568834","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50998733832465,"sku":"NIN9780007162222","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0007162227.jpg?v=1751068615"},{"product_id":"joan-of-arc-book-helen-castor-9780571284634","title":"Joan of Arc","description":"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.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49519533850897,"sku":"GOR006681682","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49572838375697,"sku":"GOR007762540","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49631199396113,"sku":"GOR006849079","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49731793617169,"sku":"NGR9780571284634","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49999811412241,"sku":"CIN0571284639G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50302197465361,"sku":"CIN0571284639VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52594081497361,"sku":"NLS9780571284634","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53436818129169,"sku":"GOR009587717","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0571284639.jpg?v=1771499777"},{"product_id":"she-wolves-book-helen-castor-9780571237050","title":"She-Wolves","description":"The boy in the bed was just fifteen years old. He had been handsome, perhaps even recently; but now his face was swollen and disfigured by disease, and by the treatments his doctors had prescribed in the attempt to ward off its ravages. Their failure could no longer be mistaken. When Edward VI - Henry VIII's longed-for son - died in 1553, extraordinarily, there was no one left to claim the title King of England. For the first time, all the contenders for the crown were female. In 1553, England was about to experience the 'monstrous regiment' - the unnatural rule - of a woman. But female rule in England also had a past. Four hundred years before Edward's death, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and granddaughter of William the Conquerer, came tantalisingly close to securing her hold on the power of the crown. And between the 12th and the 15th centuries three more exceptional women - Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou - discovered, as queens consort and dowager, how much was possible if the presumptions of male rule were not confronted so explicitly. The stories of these women - told here in all their vivid humanity - illustrate the paradox which the female heirs to the Tudor throne had no choice but to negotiate. Man was the head of woman; and the king was the head of all. How, then, could a woman be king, how could royal power lie in female hands?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49552316694801,"sku":"GOR005683233","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49666541355281,"sku":"GOR002258289","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49851129266449,"sku":"CIN0571237053G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49878750888209,"sku":"GOR003305598","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50319175418129,"sku":"GOR009343757","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0571237053.jpg?v=1751326993"},{"product_id":"blood-and-roses-book-helen-castor-9780007148080","title":"Blood and Roses","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a span of thirty years, four kings lost their thrones, countless men lost their lives on the battlefield or their heads on the block, and others found themselves suddenly flush with gold. The Wars of the Roses tore England asunder, yet until now, almost nothing has been known about the ordinary people who lived through this extraordinary time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on an incomparably rare trove of letters discovered in a tumbledown stately home, historian Helen Castor reconstructs the lives of the Paston family, who singlemindedly worked their way up from farmers to landed gentry. As they went about their business in a disintegrating society, the Pastons corresponded on topics ranging from politics to love, from shopping to family gossip. A wife writes her husband that she'd rather have him home than have a new gown, even if it were scarlet. A brother reports that the handless servant, Thomas Stumps, has demanded a crossbow so that he can defend them in a siege. Five hundred years later, these voices still have the immediacy of a conversation overheard on a street corner.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBlood and Roses\u003c\/em\u003e is a gripping and intimate biography of a family, which traces three generations of births, marriages, and deaths. Castor unravels the story of the family's tur-bulent affairs against the backdrop of civil war, bringing to vibrant life a remote and hazy era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49562220921105,"sku":"GOR003383354","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49881847267601,"sku":"CIN0007148089G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50509681885457,"sku":"GOR013325694","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50930568626449,"sku":"CIN0007148089VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0007148089.jpg?v=1751257701"},{"product_id":"lobas-book-helen-castor-9788416222872","title":"Lobas","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49625934233873,"sku":"GOR013462145","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/8416222878.jpg?v=1751191003"},{"product_id":"elizabeth-i-penguin-monarchs-book-helen-castor-9780141989945","title":"Elizabeth I (Penguin Monarchs)","description":"'The experience of insecurity, it turned out, would shape one of the most remarkable monarchs in England's history'   In  the popular imagination, as in her portraits, Elizabeth I is the image  of monarchical power. But this image is as much armour as a reflection  of the truth. In this illuminating account of England's iconic queen,  Helen Castor reveals her reign as shaped by a profound and enduring  insecurity that was a matter of both practical politics and personal  psychology.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49727054610705,"sku":"CIN0141989947G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49727693226257,"sku":"NGR9780141989945","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49767589839121,"sku":"GOR010602001","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50033668817169,"sku":"CIN0141989947VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51354778140945,"sku":"GOR011319854","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52109298008337,"sku":"GOR011930607","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52332022661393,"sku":"NLS9780141989945","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52458401890577,"sku":"GOR013074460","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0141989947.jpg?v=1751455953"},{"product_id":"eagle-and-the-hart-book-helen-castor-9780241419328","title":"The Eagle and the Hart","description":"'A dazzling tour de force of epic royal history: a compulsive, unputdownable real-life thriller, a gripping portrait of ruthless power politics, and a study of British tyranny ... written with the delicacy and elegance of one of Britain’s most brilliant historians at the top of her game' Simon Sebag-Montefiore  Phenomenal historian Helen Castor's masterful plume plunges us into the depths of machination and the abyss of tragedy. This is a masterpiece that leaves the reader both satiated and breathless - Olivette Otele, author of African Europeans  If ever a book of history was blessed with contemporary relevance, this one is. The dumbfounding, delusional, narcissistic King Richard; the white-knuckle ride of Henry IV, dogged all the way by notions of illegitimacy. I feel these men could have been ripped from today’s headlines. The book’s great achievement is in the storytelling — the unfolding drama, the secrets of power and ambition so beautifully controlled in the telling. The Eagle and the Hart will be a non-fiction book of the year and will deserve the ovations it is certain to receive. When history is this gripping there’s nothing like it - Andrew O'Hagan  The author of She-Wolves chronicles the lives and reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, two cousins whose rivalry brought their nation to the brink of disintegration - and back again  Richard of Bordeaux and Henry Bolingbroke were first cousins, born just three months apart. Their lives were from the beginning entwined. When they were still children, Richard was crowned King Richard II with Henry at his side, carrying the sword of state: a ten-year-old lord in the service of his ten-year-old king.  Yet, as the animals on their heraldic badges showed, they grew up to be opposites: Richard was the white hart, a thin-skinned narcissist, and Henry the eagle, a chivalric hero, a leader who inspired loyalty where Richard inspired only fear. Henry had all the qualities Richard lacked, all the qualities a sovereign needed, bar one: birth right. Increasingly threatened by his charismatic cousin, Richard became consumed by the need for total power, in a time of constant conflict, rebellions and reprisals. When he banished Henry into exile, the stage was set for a final confrontation, as the hart became the tyrant and the eagle his usurper.  Helen Castor tells this story of one of the strangest and most fateful relationships in English history. It is a story about power, and masculinity in crisis, and a nation brought to the brink of catastrophe. At its heart, it is the story of two men whose lives were played out in extraordinary parallel, to devastating effect.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50335261819153,"sku":"GOR013932189","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50442284597521,"sku":"NGR9780241419328","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51359256707345,"sku":"GOR014237680","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52339251839249,"sku":"NLS9780241419328","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52854106161425,"sku":"GOR014642338","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52973070319889,"sku":"CIN0241419328G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0241419328.jpg?v=1751324074"},{"product_id":"elizabeth-i-penguin-monarchs-book-helen-castor-9780141980881","title":"Elizabeth I (Penguin Monarchs)","description":"Part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers in a collectible format  In the popular imagination, as in her portraits, Elizabeth I is the image of monarchical power. The Virgin Queen ruled over a Golden Age: the Spanish Armada was defeated; English explorers reached the ends of the earth; a new Church of England rose from the ashes of past conflict; the English Renaissance bloomed in the genius of Shakespeare, Spenser and Sidney. But the image is also armour.   In this illuminating new account of Elizabeth's reign, Helen Castor shows how England's iconic queen was shaped by profound and enduring insecurity-an insecurity which was both a matter of practical political reality and personal psychology. From her precarious upbringing at the whim of a brutal, capricious father and her perilous accession after his death, to the religious division that marred her state and the failure to marry that threatened her line, Elizabeth lived under constant threat. But, facing down her enemies with a compellingly inscrutable public persona, the last and greatest of the Tudor monarchs would become a timeless, fearless queen.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50469519458577,"sku":"GOR008869467","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50713364201745,"sku":"GOR010292847","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51797244346641,"sku":"CIN0141980885VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53599217123601,"sku":"GOR010204877","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0141980885.jpg?v=1751195331"},{"product_id":"eagle-and-the-hart-book-helen-castor-9781982139209","title":"The Eagle and the Hart","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50501116657937,"sku":"CIN198213920XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50994290032913,"sku":"NIN9781982139209","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51087610544401,"sku":"CIN198213920XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":52879508701457,"sku":"CIN198213920XLN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53340967502097,"sku":"CIN198213920XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/198213920X.jpg?v=1751157015"},{"product_id":"joan-of-arc-rare-book-helen-castor-1729004120iev","title":"Joan of Arc","description":"2019. No Edition Stated . 292 pages. No dust jacket, Folio edition with slipcase. Blue pictorial cloth. Grey slipcase. Colour illustrative plates. Pages are clean and bright, and appear almost good as","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51239380189457,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51239382548753,"sku":"1729004120IEV","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1729004120IEV_1.jpg?v=1741077313"},{"product_id":"eagle-and-the-hart-book-helen-castor-9780141991641","title":"The Eagle and the Hart","description":"THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER   The author of She-Wolves chronicles the lives and reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, two cousins whose rivalry brought their nation to the brink of disintegration - and back again  *LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY 2025* *THE TELEGRAPH'S BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024*  'A glorious work of history... a gripping and haunting tragedy... There was no book published this year, novels included, that I found richer in character; no plot more taut' - Tom Holland, The Spectator  'A dazzling tour de force of epic royal history: a compulsive, unputdownable real-life thriller, a gripping portrait of ruthless power politics, and a study of British tyranny... written with the delicacy and elegance of one of Britain’s most brilliant historians at the top of her game' - Simon Sebag-Montefiore  'If ever a book of history was blessed with contemporary relevance, this one is. The dumbfounding, delusional, narcissistic King Richard; the white-knuckle ride of Henry IV, dogged all the way by notions of illegitimacy. I feel these men could have been ripped from today’s headlines. The book’s great achievement is in the storytelling — the unfolding drama, the secrets of power and ambition so beautifully controlled in the telling. The Eagle and the Hart will be a non-fiction book of the year and will deserve the ovations it is certain to receive. When history is this gripping there’s nothing like it' - Andrew O'Hagan  Richard of Bordeaux and Henry Bolingbroke were first cousins, born just three months apart. Their lives were from the beginning entwined. When they were still children, Richard was crowned King Richard II with Henry at his side, carrying the sword of state: a ten-year-old lord in the service of his ten-year-old king.  Yet, as the animals on their heraldic badges showed, they grew up to be opposites: Richard was the white hart, a thin-skinned narcissist, and Henry the eagle, a chivalric hero, a leader who inspired loyalty where Richard inspired only fear. Henry had all the qualities Richard lacked, all the qualities a sovereign needed, bar one: birth right. Increasingly threatened by his charismatic cousin, Richard became consumed by the need for total power, in a time of constant conflict, rebellions and reprisals. When he banished Henry into exile, the stage was set for a final confrontation, as the hart became the tyrant and the eagle his usurper.  Helen Castor tells this story of one of the strangest and most fateful relationships in English history. It is a story about power, and masculinity in crisis, and a nation brought to the brink of catastrophe. At its heart, it is the story of two men whose lives were played out in extraordinary parallel, to devastating effect.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51599535178001,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51599535407377,"sku":"NGR9780141991641","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51971211100433,"sku":"GOR014471151","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52091434762513,"sku":"GOR014485812","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52459012161809,"sku":"NLS9780141991641","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52976253927697,"sku":"GOR014675268","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53057166278929,"sku":"GOR014719172","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/014199164X.jpg?v=1769687375"},{"product_id":"king-the-crown-and-the-duchy-of-lancaster-book-helen-castor-9780198206224","title":"The King, the Crown, and the Duchy of Lancaster","description":"In 1399 Henry Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster, seized the throne of England to become Henry IV. From 1399, therefore, the Lancastrian kings - unlike their royal predecessors - commanded not only the public authority of the crown, but also the private power of the Duchy of Lancaster. Until now, this has been seen simply as an advantage to the Lancastrian crown, and as an uncontroversial part of the evolution of a 'royal affinity' during the later middle ages. However, this study makes clear that profound tensions existed between the role of the king and that of his alter ego, the duke of Lancaster. This book examines the complex relationship between the king, the crown and the Duchy of Lancaster at both a national and a local level, focusing particularly on the north midlands and East Anglia and, in so doing, sheds light on the nature and functioning of the late medieval English monarchy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52130881143057,"sku":"NLS9780198206224","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780198206224.jpg?v=1757505601"},{"product_id":"eagle-and-the-hart-book-helen-castor-9781982139216","title":"The Eagle and the Hart","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom an acclaimed historian comes an epic tale of power and betrayal: the dual biography of Richard II and Henry IV, two cousins whose tumultuous reigns shaped the course of English history.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Richard of Bordeaux and Henry of Bolingbroke, cousins born just three months apart, were ten years old when Richard became king of England. They were thirty-two when Henry deposed him and became king in his place. Now, the story behind one of the strangest and most fateful events in English history (and the inspiration behind Shakespeare's most celebrated history plays) is brought to vivid life by the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eBlood and Roses\u003c\/i\u003e, Helen Castor.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Castor showcases the enigmatic Richard II, a king who clung to his divine right to rule but lacked the leadership to sustain his throne. His reign, marred by narcissism and disdain for constitutional principles, spiraled into chaos, ultimately leading to his downfall at the hands of his cousin. Enter Henry IV--a stark contrast. Castor portrays him as a chivalric hero, a leader who inspired loyalty and camaraderie. Yet, his journey to the throne was anything but smooth, plagued by rebellion and political turmoil. What makes Castor's account so compelling is her ability to weave these personal stories into the bigger picture. She explores the turbulent themes of masculinity, identity, and the fragile nature of power, offering a timely reminder of the perils of self-obsessed rulers--and the challenges faced by those who follow in their wake.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Richly researched and beautifully written, \u003ci\u003eThe Eagle and the Hart\u003c\/i\u003e isn't just a history book--it's a gripping tale of leadership, legacy, and the timeless struggle for power. For anyone fascinated by medieval England or the universal dynamics of power and ambition, this is not to be missed.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52498338218257,"sku":"NIN9781982139216","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53505275691281,"sku":"CIN1982139218G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781982139216.jpg?v=1760086729"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-helen-castor.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}