Book description
This is the first major biography for a generation of a truly
formidable king. Edward I is familiar to millions as 'Longshanks',
conqueror of Scotland and nemesis of Sir William Wallace
('Braveheart'). Edward was born to rule England, but believed that it
was his right to rule all of Britain. His reign was one of the most
dramatic of the entire Middle Ages, leading to war and conquest on an
unprecedented scale, and leaving a legacy of division that has lasted
from his day to our own.
In his astonishingly action-packed life, Edward defeated and killed
the famous Simon de Montfort in battle; travelled across Europe to the
Holy Land on crusade; conquered Wales, extinguishing forever its
native rulers, and constructed - at Conwy, Harlech, Beaumaris and
Caernarfon - the most magnificent chain of castles ever created. After
the death of his first wife he erected the Eleanor Crosses - the
grandest funeral monuments ever fashioned for an English monarch.
Marc Morris is an historian and broadcaster. He studied and taught
history at the universities of London and Oxford, and his doctorate on
the thirteenth-century earls of Norfolk was published in 2005. In 2003
he presented the highly-acclaimed television series
Castle
, and wrote its accompanying book.
