Simon de Montfort's combination of charisma, determination and fearlessness made him one of the greatest men of his age. This biography follows his life from his upbringing in France until his death at the hands of the future Edward I. The pivotal year was 1264, when Montfort captured Henry III in battle, established a constitutional monarchy and revolutionized the representation of Parliament, the future Commons. Montfort recognized and cultivated a new awakening in national identity and political awareness not seen since before the Norman Conquest two centuries earlier. Henry's reign of 56...

Henry III (1207-72) reigned for 56 years, the longest-serving English monarch until the modern era. Admired for his building projects like Westminster Abbey, he is nevertheless dismissed by scholars as weak and inept, at least compared to his father King John and son Edward I. This biography changes that perception and shows that he was in fact a more than capable ruler. Crowned as a boy, scarred by civil war, he strove to be the good king implored of him by William Marshal, but his increasingly insular barons and clergy, emboldened by Magna Carta, constantly thwarted his plans to make...