CONQUEROR'S SON: Duke Robert Curthose,Thwarted King.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.NFINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip (£20) to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,monochrome+colour photographic illustrated dw/dj with black+brown lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Internally to dw/dj fluid-marked top+bottom edges and also to the body and vertical edge of rear,inner flap causing some minor wrinkling to concomitant areas.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean and solid - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,and appears unread - apart from my own collation. Due to fluid-marking to rear inner flap of dw/dj; all the pages of the index (pp221-28) and the rear free endpaper too,all have concomitant vertical wrinkling but NO discolouration to same.Bright,crisp,clean, sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xi-xiiipp+2-228pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements,abbreviations list,10 chapters and an epilogue,8pp b/w illustration reproductions and b/w photographs in 1 block,between pp100/1,5 b/w regional maps interspersed throughout the text,21pp notes,10pp bibliography,an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,contents list/table with illustrations list to recto,list of b/w maps - 6 of 11 are in the prelims,and 9 family tree charts.
Duke Robert of Normandy,eldest son of William the Conqueror,was one of the greatest kings England never had.Instead,his reputation was distorted by the English chroniclers to give legitimacy to the claims to the throne of Robert's two brothers,William Rufus and Henry I.This man,known to history as a rebel,a lazy ruler and an incompetent idler,is shown by Katherine Lack to have been the victim of a carefully constructed web of medieval spin.He has had 900 years of bad publicity as an undutiful son,harassing his father with acts of insubordination,spending money so recklessly that he had to sell his lands in Normandy to his brothers.
The portrait that emerges in 'Conqueror's Son' is that of a worthy son of a great father,whose peace-making exploits on the Scottish borders, faithfulness and courage as a leading crusader and return in triumph with a foreign beauty as his bride give a whole new dimension to our view of England under the Normans.
Katherine Lack sets out to redress the balance of opinion on Robert Curthose ('short boots' or 'stubby legs' - the Normans were fond of giving pejorative nicknames).What emerges is a fascinating revision of our understanding of William the Conqueror and his complex relations with his sons.In particular,this book paints a vivid picture of the royal and aristocratic families of northern Europe and their carefully maintained,though always fragile,alliances.
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