The Eagle and the Hart

A brilliant achievement.... not just a glorious work of history but a gripping and haunting tragedy. She is not, of course, the first writer to have made a drama out of the crisis that brought the Lancastrians to power, but it is the measure of her genius for narrative and character that the tale she tells does not remotely suffer from comparison with Shakespeare... There was no book published this year, novels included, that I found richer in character; no plot more taut -- Tom Holland * The Spectator * The Eagle and the Hart is packed with drama and incident, but it’s also written with an electrifying sense of the tensions between individuals and institutions, innovation and tradition, legitimacy and tyranny. This is a masterpiece of narrative history -- Matthew Lyons * The Telegraph * The Eagle and the Hart is a meticulous account of the precariousness of kingship and the psychology of power. It is also a rattlingly good story, told with scholarship and humanity by one of our finest historians -- Helen Carr * The Spectator * Luminous... a rich and vivid history of the Plantagenet cousins and rivals for the English throne... Helen Castor is a historian of great nuance and meticulous scholarship -- Kathryn Hughes * The Guardian * An exhaustively researched and beautifully written account... The Eagle and the Hart reads not just as a political epic but as a timely reflection on both the dangers of egomaniacal rulers and the challenges facing those who replace them -- Katherine Harvey * The Times * A compelling narrative... which conveys the complexities of politics in this fascinating time in exemplary style, with a sharp eye for personality and a profound understanding of the period -- Jonathan Sumption * The Literary Review * The book is astonishingly good. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is both a gripping, moving, deeply humane study of two contrasting cousins, and a clear-eyed dissection of late medieval England’s polity -- Dan Jones * History, Etc * Among the front rank of writers producing thoughtful and engaging popular history, Helen Castor... examines complex events and an extensive cast of personalities in clear, uncluttered prose -- Stephen Brumwell * Wall Street Journal * The Eagle and the Hart brings the 14th century to life in all its gaudy colour, terrifying bloodletting and high drama. A book to feast on * The London Standard * An utterly gripping and compelling tale of a deadly rivalry, told with Helen Castor's characteristic verve and exceptional scholarship. The intrigue, turbulence and sheer drama of the Plantagenet age is brought vividly to life throughout. One of the best history books I've read in years -- Tracy Borman