'A rip-roaring new life of Marshal . [a] splendid account of a great medieval life.' Dan Jones, author of Crusaders, Wall Street Journa l' Drawing upon an array of contemporary evidence, renowned historian Thomas Ashbridge presents a compelling account of William Marshal's life and times, from rural England to the battlefields of France, the desert castles of the Holy Land and the verdant shores of Ireland. Charting the unparalleled rise to prominence of a man bound to a code of honour, yet driven by unquenchable ambition, this knight's tale lays bare the brutish realities of medieval warfare and the machinations of royal court, and draws us into the heart of a formative period of our history, when the West emerged from the Dark Ages and stood on the brink of modernity. It is the story of one remarkable man, the birth of the knightly class to which he belonged, and the forging of the English nation. Asbridge's authoritative and dramatic retelling of William Marshal - the true Lancelot of his era - brings to life this often overlooked figure, a man who not only served at the right hand of five English monarchs but also helped negotiate the terms of Magna Carta. Friend of Richard the Lionheart and the infamous King John, a celebrated tournament champion, baron, politician and, ultimately, regent of the realm, William Marshal was arguably the greatest knight.