In this work Julian Rathbone deftly employs the eyes of outside observers to shape a witty and often profound view of how the English came to be the way that they are. Throroughly modern, richly descriptive, packed with action, savage and erotic, informed with a spirit of inquiry and speculation that lifts it far above the conventional history novel, Kings of Albion is sure to please many discerning readers.
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About the Author:
Julian Rathbone is the author of many books including JOSEPH (reissued in Abacus in November 1999) and KING FISHER LIVES, both of which were shortlisted for the Booker prize. He lives in Dorset.
Review:
In 1460, during the War of the Roses, the Lancastrians and Yorkists are busy chopping each other into little pieces and, during time out, amusing themselves with a game called "footie", which involves kicking an inflated bladder around a field. Into this unlikely idyll walks a bunch of tourists from the East who have come to search for a missing Kinsman. In no time at all, they are horrified by the weather and confused by a series of appalling European idiosyncrasies (in particular, the fact that the Emperor of the Romans lives in Germany and the Christina High Priest in Rome). Julian Rathbone's follow-up to the bestselling The Last English King is a hugely enjoyanle amble into a most gruesome period of history THE TIMES Although Kings of Albion is packed with jokes it is a serious book ... The Wars of the Roses never seemed so strange - or so real ... whether describiing a journey through London by boat or country fields in winter, so strange to an oriental eye, Rathbone has evoked the sights and smells of fifteenth-century England ... the result is a historical novel of charm and intelligence SUNDAY TELEGRAPH A superb adventure story. The battle scenes combine excitement with an overwhelming squalor, and there are moments of real tragedy and pathos INDEPENDENT
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- PublisherWelcome Rain Publishers
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 1566492378
- ISBN 13 9781566492379
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages368
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Rating