Warrior, martyr, saint: Joan of Arc has captivated imaginations around the world for centuries. The legendary heroine of a tumultuous episode from the Hundred Years' War, Joan led the French army to triumph over the English at the Siege of Orleans in 1429. Two years later the 19-year-old was captured by the enemy and their French collaborators, charged with heresy, and burned at the stake -- the end of her life but the beginning of her enduring fame.
This expertly translated and lavishly illustrated biography traces The Maid of Orleans' progress from ordinary peasant girl to seer of mystic...