Synopses & Reviews
The acclaimed historian Helen Castor—bestselling author and BBC broadcaster of
She-Wolves, the story of England's queens before Elizabeth I—returns with the incredible story of Joan of Arc, as only a biographer of Castor's enormous talents can tell it.
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 apart fifteenth-century France.
Here is a portrait of a nineteen-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 that began to take hold at her trial: that of the Maid of Orleans, the savior 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 startling new take on the medieval world.
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 or the people around her—princes, bishops, soldiers, or peasants—knew what would happen next.
Adding complexity, depth, and fresh insight into Joan's life, showing her confronting the challenges of faith and doubt in a superstitious age, Castor's Joan of Arc is a rich history and biography that allows us to better understand this remarkable woman and her world.
Review
“A triumph - brings the real Joan and her time to dramatic, moving and brilliant life.” Dan Jones, author of < i=""> The Plantagenets <>
Review
“JOAN OF ARC: A HISTORY is popular history at its best: pacy, clear and undergirded with a formidable array of scholarly footnotes. Helen Castor shows how well it can be done.” < i=""> Daily Telegraph <>
Review
“There have been many lives of Joan, and books about her times, some of them excellent. But none is quite like Castors ... [her] book is a historians achievement.” < i=""> The Guardian <>
Review
“[A] vivid and intelligent biography ... hugely impressive. ” < i=""> Sunday Business Post <>
Review
“Clear and elegant ... an engaging piece of popular scholarship that does not diminish Joans star, but instead uses its light to illuminate a remarkable age.” < i=""> Times Higher Education <>
Review
“Compelling ... [Castor] succeeds triumphantly in rescuing [Joan] from the various straitjackets in which she has been confined ... a fascinating and privileged insight.” < i=""> Sunday Times <> (London)
Review
“An elegant, subtle biography of great historical integrity and sensitive understanding. Castor lets the humanity of Joans story shine through.” Kate Mosse, < i=""> Evening Standard <> (London)
Review
“A fascinating biography ... truly thrilling.” < i=""> Daily Mail <> (London), Book of the Week
Review
“Excellent ... perhaps Castors greatest achievement is to remind us of just how extraordinary Joan was. ” Literary Review
Review
“Enlightening ... [an] elegant and vivid account.” < i=""> The Times <> (London)
Review
“With the meticulous scholarship that she revealed in SHE-WOLVES, and in the same captivating manner, Helen Castor presents us with a very compelling analysis.” Trevor James, Historical Association / The Historian
Review
“[An] excellent retelling of the strange tale of the Maid from Domrémy...JOAN OF ARC: A HISTORY is popular history at its best” Daily Telegraph (London)
Review
“[An] illuminating new biography... a clear and elegant account .” Times Higher Education, Book of the Week
Review
“An unorthodox yet erudite and elegant biography of this ‘massive star.” < i=""> Kirkus Reviews <>
Review
“Castor creates a strong introduction to the courageous girl who swore she heard saints voices, but also to the nation-rending struggle for power so fiercely waged that only that singular, obsessive teenager could finally save France…Recreates the heady atmosphere of the period.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“Castors research is thorough and her account…always fascinating. Readers interested in history, rather than folklore, will find this detailed framing of Joans story very rewarding.” < b=""> Library Journal <>
Review
“Castor brings keenly observed historical details to the grandeur and drama of the political and religious turmoil of medieval Europe and an extraordinary young woman.” < b=""> Booklist <>
Review
“Castors account is filled with gruesome murders, even more gruesome accidents, and layers of intrigue that make Game of Thrones look like childs play…enjoyable…never dull, thanks to Castors knack for weaving in salacious bits, usually involving a particularly unfortunate death.” Daily Beast
Review
“An amazing read…This is a true story from the histories and journals of the times that reads like fiction…one of the best histories I have encountered.” Blogcritics (Leslie Wright)
Review
“Convincing and gripping…a highly satisfying biography…Castors great coup is in framing this biography within another context...it puts the women back into the story…Castors book is an important way of returning Joans ‘star to the realm where it belongs, the human one.” Amanda Foreman, < i=""> New York Times Book Review <>
Review
“…quite intriguing. This book is a great historical read.” < i=""> Manhattan Book Review <>
Review
“A book that shows vividly what Joan meant to those in her own time, politically and militarily…fascinating” < i=""> The New Yorker <>
Synopsis
From the author of the acclaimed
She-Wolves, the complex, surprising, and engaging story of one of the most remarkable women of the medieval world—as never told before.
Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castors Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to fifteenth century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt, a roaring girl who, in fighting the English, was also taking sides in a bloody civil war. We meet this extraordinary girl amid the tumultuous events of her extraordinary world where no one—not Joan herself, nor the people around her—princes, bishops, soldiers, or peasants—knew what would happen next.
Adding complexity, depth, and fresh insight into Joans life, and placing her actions in the context of the larger political and religious conflicts of fifteenth century France, Joan of Arc: A History is history at its finest and a surprising new portrait of this remarkable woman.
Joan of Arc: A History features an 8-page color insert.
About the Author
Helen Castor is a historian of medieval England and a Bye-Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her first book, Blood and Roses, was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2005 and won the English Association's Beatrice White Prize in 2006. Her second book, She-Wolves, was selected as one of the books of the year for 2010 by the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Independent, Financial Times, and BBC History Magazine. She lives in London.