A totally engrossing book, one which covers the Plantagenet years under Eleanor of Acquitaine and her husband, King Louis of France. Eleanor was a strong, forceful character, as different from her husband as oil and water. She created the courts of love, reviving the code of chivalry in the French nobility. Through her marriage to Louis, she virtually redrew the map of France. Eleanor was the epitome of the saying, "Behind every successful man is a strong woman." Here Jean Plaidy brings these characters and more to life with a sumptuous look at the way royalty lived in the 11th and 12th centuries

Continuing Jean Plaidy's popular Plantagenet series, here is the dramatic story of King Henry the Fifth's rise from wayward youngster to warrior king. Richard the Second is losing his hold on the crown and Henry of Bolingbroke, previously exiled by the king, returns to England to claim it. Richard is deposed and dies mysteriously, murdered some say on the orders of Bolingbroke, now King Henry the Fourth. But Henry finds the crown harder to hold onto than it was to win. He is beset by enemies, hampered by disease, and concerned about the rebellious behaviour of his son. Dominating the court and with his eye on the crown is Harry of Monmouth, whose reckless conduct in low-class taverns with his crony Sir John Oldcastle causes scandal. When the king dies, Harry became King Henry the Fifth, and the change is dramatic for both him and Oldcastle. The licentious youth becomes a great king, and Oldcastle, the rake, turns into a religious reformer. Oldcastle dies a martyr and Harry becomes the conquering hero of Agincourt. The Star of Lancaster is in the ascendant. Harry has brought France to her knees and married her princess. It seems that the long war was at an end. But a greater enemy than the French awaits Harry ...

Henry, the youngest of The Conquerer's sons assumes the mantle of The Lion of Justice. The death of The Conqueror left three sons to inherit his power and his wealth. Normandy for Robert, England for Rufus and for Henry, the youngest, five thousand pounds of silver. The three were natural rivals. The feckless Robert lost Norman dukedom in an orgy of impulsive extravagance. Red-haired Rufus scandalised the court with his perverse sexuality and contempt for the Church. And Henry-cleverest of all-awaited his chance to fulfil his father's prophecy and assume the mantle of The Lion of Justice. 'Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of characterisation has become one of the country's most widely read novelists.' Sunday Times ...

A private battle rages at court for the affections of a childless queen, who must soon name her successor--and thus determine the future of the British Empire. It is the beginning of the eighteenth century and William of Orange is dying. Soon Anne is crowned queen, but to court insiders, the name of the imminent sovereign is Sarah Churchill. Beautiful, outspoken Sarah has bewitched Anne and believes she is invincible--until she installs her poor cousin Abigail Hill into court as royal chambermaid. Plain Abigail seems the least likely challenger to Sarah's place in her highness's affections, but challenge it she does, in stealthy yet formidable ways. While Anne engages in her private tug-of-war, the nation is obsessed with another, more public battle: succession. Anne is sickly and childless, the last of the Stuart line. This final novel of the Stuarts from Jean Plaidy weaves larger-than-life characters through a dark maze of intrigue, love, and destruction, with nothing less than the future of the British Empire at stake.