December 15, 2007
Films and romantic novels have reinforced (or even created) the popular image: oftwelfth-century England as the scene of an ongoing struggle between two brother-kings, good Richard the Lion Hearted and his sniveling, conniving evil brother, John. Recently, revisionist historians have tried, with some success, to chip away at the stereotypes. Richard, they convincingly assert, was a French feudal lord with little interest in England and a decidedly ignoble temperament. Conversely, some historians have tried to find positive things to say about John. McLynn has now taken the counter-revisionist tack. He makes a strong case in maintaining that John truly was a disaster, both as a man and a monarch. He was ill-tempered andduplicitous and had a knack for alienating powerful people. McLynn is less convincing in his efforts to prove Richard deserving of his accolades. Although Richard was undeniably a courageous warrior, McLynn understates his often-reckless behavior, both in Europe and the Holy Land. Still, McLynn knows how to tell a story, and the story of these two complicated but flawed men is worth revisiting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)