a genuinely suspenseful and well written piece of narrative.

'succeeds brilliantly in combining page-turning intensity with eye-opening insights.'

'Jager knows his territory well; we learn a good deal about medieval armor and weaponry, fashion and custom, the legal system and sexual ideas, court politics and religion. His skilful prose quickly ensnares readers in the web of the characters' invention, allowing no escape until very near the end- Sex, savagery, and high-level political maneuvers energize a splendid piece of popular history.'

'A riveting account that will satisfy general readers and historians alike.'

'As enthralling and engrossing as any [story] about a high-profile celebrity scandal today.'

These diaries will be gasped at, and relied upon, for decades to come

Lucid, absorbing

The numerous fans of her Aristocrats (in which number I include myself) will not be disappointed: here is the same judicious mixture of intimacy and scholarship

A Royal Affair is an entertaining tale ...Tillyard's account of the brothers is heroic...[she] tells this astonishing tale with bravura

She has returned to what she knows-and does-best, teasing out the bonds of love, hate and pretend indifference that bind siblings, no matter what their historical pedigree, into a cat's cradle of consequence

The story is brilliantly told. In its descriptive flourishes it is sometimes fearlessly novelistic, yet it travels long distances for scholarly scruples