Brief Description
Set in the reign of Richard I, Coeur de Lion, this title is packed with incidents - sieges, ambushes and combats - and characters: Cedric of Rotherwood, the die-hard Saxon; his ward Rowena; the fierce Templar knight, Sir Brian de Bois-Gilbert; the Jew, Isaac of York, and his daughter Rebecca; Wamba and Gurth, jester and swineherd respectively.
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In the virulently male world of Ivanhoe, Jews are reviled and persecuted; women are at best political pawns and at worst the victims of rape or misogyny; the weak are subject to the relentless oppression of the master race, the Norman rulers of England; and violence is endemic. And yet there are suggestions of a better world: in the sisterhood of Jewess and Saxon princess, in the redistributive justice of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws, and in the determined attempt of the hero to effect political reconciliation between Saxons and Normans. Although set in 1194, after the return of Richard I of England from the Third Crusade, and although first published in 1820, Ivanhoe has a political modernity which makes it the most remarkable of all Scott's novels. It is also a superb and exciting tale, which culminates in the show trial of Rebecca the Jewess on a charge of sorcery. The text is based on the first edition and is emended by readings from Scott's manuscript and proof-corrections which were lost in the original process of preparing the novel for publication.
On the Back Cover
In the twelfth century, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns home to England from the Third Crusade to claim his inheritance and the love of the lady Rowena. The heroic adventures of this noble Saxon knight involve him in the struggle between Richard the Lion-Hearted and his malignant brother John: a conflict that brings Ivanhoe into alliance with the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood and his legendary fight for the forces of good.
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