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The Spider King
Louis XI of France was forced to struggle against odds that would have broken an ordinary man. Instead he exhibited great and constant personal courage, sagacity and a fervent idealism which in this violent era the end of the Middle Ages made him the herald of a new and better era, a glorious dawn that would be called the Renaissance.
540 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
About the author
Lawrence Schoonover
21 books15 followersLawrence Schoonover (1906–1980) was an American novelist.
Born in Anamosa, Iowa, Schoonover attended the University of Wisconsin, then worked in advertising before becoming a novelist.
Lawrence Schoonver had four daughters with his wife, Gertrude Hedwig Bonn: Judith Hedwig (1940), Mary Elizabeth (1942), Caroline Grace (1944–2005), and Virginia (1946).
Writing mostly historical fiction, his attention to detail and historical accuracy won him great praise by his contemporaries. Among his many well-known books are The Queen's Cross, The Burnished Blade, Gentle Infidel, The Spider King, and The Prisoner of Tordesillas.
Born in Anamosa, Iowa, Schoonover attended the University of Wisconsin, then worked in advertising before becoming a novelist.
Lawrence Schoonver had four daughters with his wife, Gertrude Hedwig Bonn: Judith Hedwig (1940), Mary Elizabeth (1942), Caroline Grace (1944–2005), and Virginia (1946).
Writing mostly historical fiction, his attention to detail and historical accuracy won him great praise by his contemporaries. Among his many well-known books are The Queen's Cross, The Burnished Blade, Gentle Infidel, The Spider King, and The Prisoner of Tordesillas.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 5, 2017
If you're looking for a biography, this is not for you. If you're looking for a dispassionate treatment, this is also not for you. If you're looking for a guns-and-swords rollicking adventure, this is also, sadly, not for you. But if you want something that is mostly historical and authentic and slots itself into occasional adventure and Game of Thrones style intrigue and machinations, then this indeed is the book for you.
This is a very satisfying read that tantalizes with history, especially the interdependence of France and England, and conveys the mood of a rotting and spent feudalism starting to give way to a strong central government. France, at the start, is a patchwork of squabbling provinces beset by English invasion and ruled by a series of weak and ineffective kings. The Holy Roman Empire is a decadent, dreaming artifact. England, while dynamic, is fighting both the Hundred Years' War and is sickened by its own War of the Roses.
The outright warfare and conflict of Louis XI's early life eventually transitions into masterful diplomacy and statecraft, but even this becomes a focus on structural changes within France. The last decade of the king's life is an iteration of changes and improvements, and Schoonover hurries through it.
Louis XI himself is described as a man straddling the old and new: while deeply religious and autocratic, he also sees the power of self-rule within the people and in various scientific and civic improvements. It is difficult not to sympathize with his viewpoints, and I wonder if some of this is Schoonover projecting modern sensibilities onto this figure.
Unlike Harold Lamb in his Omar Khayyam, Schoonover never confesses his fabrications, which I think would have been helpful. That and a map, of course.
This is a very satisfying read that tantalizes with history, especially the interdependence of France and England, and conveys the mood of a rotting and spent feudalism starting to give way to a strong central government. France, at the start, is a patchwork of squabbling provinces beset by English invasion and ruled by a series of weak and ineffective kings. The Holy Roman Empire is a decadent, dreaming artifact. England, while dynamic, is fighting both the Hundred Years' War and is sickened by its own War of the Roses.
The outright warfare and conflict of Louis XI's early life eventually transitions into masterful diplomacy and statecraft, but even this becomes a focus on structural changes within France. The last decade of the king's life is an iteration of changes and improvements, and Schoonover hurries through it.
Louis XI himself is described as a man straddling the old and new: while deeply religious and autocratic, he also sees the power of self-rule within the people and in various scientific and civic improvements. It is difficult not to sympathize with his viewpoints, and I wonder if some of this is Schoonover projecting modern sensibilities onto this figure.
Unlike Harold Lamb in his Omar Khayyam, Schoonover never confesses his fabrications, which I think would have been helpful. That and a map, of course.
May 22, 2022
The Spider King
By Lawrence Schoonover
Reviewed May 22, 2022
The Spider King, published in 1954, was one of the first historical novels I ever read. My mother had a copy and when she deemed I was old enough to understand the story (which was sometime in my early to mid teens), she encouraged me to read this one. I had learned to love reading when in grade school and always tested well above most of my classmates in reading comprehension, so she felt confident in having me read this one. Even after all these years, I had good memories of this book.
This is the story of Louis XI of France, known in his lifetime as “the universal spider” because of his clever machinations and manipulations. He lived from 1423 to 1483, a man at the crossroads of the Medieval and the Renaissance. That means he was a contemporary of King Richard III of England (my medieval monarch crush), dying in August of the year Richard came to the throne, although when I read The Spider King back then, I knew next to nothing about Richard.
My, how times have changed!
That original copy disappeared long ago, probably donated to the Goodwill or the library, and I thought little of it until I was browsing used booksellers online (something I do on a regular basis these days) and came across the title. My interest was piqued anew. The price was extremely reasonable (I suspect The Spider King isn’t in great demand) and I knew I wanted a copy to read again and keep on my bookshelf. But which book shelf? Ricardian? Medieval? General Reading? How about Old Friends.
This, then, is the kind of historical fiction on which I cut my reading teeth.
The story opens with the birth of Louis. It is a difficult birth and the gray-bearded doctors who do nothing but stand around and pontificate on what should be done and how it should be done have the birthing chamber locked up tighter than a drum. No light, no fresh air, the room suffocatingly warm from a burning fire. The young queen is failing. The doctors wash their hands of the matter. It’s up to God, they say, and leave the room. The midwife, who knows more about childbirth than all the doctors combined, has the windows opened and the room refreshed.
“The best calves are dropped in the open fields,” she snapped. “Fresh air! Fetch me a bucket of hot water from the kitchens. Another, icy cold from the wine cellar. And while you’re there, bring me a bottle of brandy, the strongest you can find, brandy from Armagnac. And in the name of all the saints, put out that stinking fire!”
Among those attending the birth of the dauphin are Jean, Count of Foix, and his uncle, Bernard d’Armangac. Neither man cares for the other and later, in a private meeting with Renaud of Chartres, the Duke-Archbishop of Reims, Bernard confesses the story of a strapping young man, Henri LeClerq, who is newly attached to the suite of the Comte de Comminges, a story of a brother’s unnatural love for his sister, and the sister’s indiscretion with the Count of Foix. Henri, one of the few fictional characters in the book, later plays an important part in the story, becoming among other things Louis’ chief of artillery.
“No treachery, but want of men and money! Amongst the soldiers there is muttered that you maintain several factions.” ~Henry VI, Part 1, as quoted in the novel.
We then fast forward a number of years. The dauphin is in his early teens and an appropriate marriage is sought but none is found. The Duke-Archbishop tries for several years to secure a marriage to Princess Margaret of Scotland, but to no avail because French fortunes are on the wane and England pushes deeper towards Paris. This is during the latter days of the Hundred Years War, and when a young peasant girl named Joan rallies her countrymen and French fortunes improve, the Scottish king changes his mind and off to France goes Margaret with her dowry not in money, but an army under the Earl of Douglas.
Louis’ father, King Charles VII, is a crude man who cares more for hunting, drinking, and wenching than ruling a country. When the young dauphin asks a perfectly logical question about whether or not the international situation requires a pregnancy at this time, Charles answers coarsely,
“why don’t you invite the conseil du roy into your bedchamber tomorrow night and debate the matter with them? They will be delighted to oblige. Several, indeed, will want to revive the old privilege of witnessing the authentication of the blood royal.”
Instead of seeing Louis as a continuation of his dynasty, Charles and his council feel threatened by the young dauphin, a young man who circumstances have made wise beyond his years.
Throughout the book we see Louis grow and mature from an uncertain youth who makes some pretty serious mistakes, to a man who learns that to survive, to be a good king, he needs to be manipulative and ruthless when the circumstances call for it, refusing to get caught by surprise and using the weakness of others to promote his own agenda, which is to strengthen and consolidate France.
Like his English counterpart (the above mentioned Richard III), we have a man born into difficult circumstances, who has to deal with physical disabilities, who does his best to do what is right for his country, and has a strong connection to the common folk. As a youth and a young man, Louis is a fighter of renown also like Richard, but where Richard was known for having a strong streak of the chivalrous, Louis was the kind of fighter who would do anything to win.
Louis’ life has its share of sadness and tragedy – a childless first marriage, assassination attempts, his exile to the Dauphiny – but these events help shape the man who in spite of his father’s scheming to have the pope set him aside as heir becomes King Louis XI.
And this is just the first half of the book.
This, then, is historical fiction as I remember it, and as I read this book I was pleasantly surprised at how much came back to me from that first reading decades ago – Louis’ birth and death with the shades of France, past and future, hovering in the background; his wedding night and the firing of the cannon; his epilepsy (or as it was called back then, the falling sickness); a particularly nasty execution, and others. I was also pleased that the writing is extremely readable, not some stodgy, old-fashioned style that I’d outgrown. One night I read 100 pages without even realizing it, that’s how good it is. (You know how that goes: just a few more pages, just another chapter.)
So if you enjoy historical fiction with an interest in 15th century Europe, I highly recommend The Spider King by Lawrence Schoonover. It is out of print and not available as an ebook (although I wish it were!), so you’ll likely have to borrow it from a library or find a copy at a used book seller. Either way, get the book and give it a read. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did, and come away with a better understanding of what made the Spider King tick.
By Lawrence Schoonover
Reviewed May 22, 2022
The Spider King, published in 1954, was one of the first historical novels I ever read. My mother had a copy and when she deemed I was old enough to understand the story (which was sometime in my early to mid teens), she encouraged me to read this one. I had learned to love reading when in grade school and always tested well above most of my classmates in reading comprehension, so she felt confident in having me read this one. Even after all these years, I had good memories of this book.
This is the story of Louis XI of France, known in his lifetime as “the universal spider” because of his clever machinations and manipulations. He lived from 1423 to 1483, a man at the crossroads of the Medieval and the Renaissance. That means he was a contemporary of King Richard III of England (my medieval monarch crush), dying in August of the year Richard came to the throne, although when I read The Spider King back then, I knew next to nothing about Richard.
My, how times have changed!
That original copy disappeared long ago, probably donated to the Goodwill or the library, and I thought little of it until I was browsing used booksellers online (something I do on a regular basis these days) and came across the title. My interest was piqued anew. The price was extremely reasonable (I suspect The Spider King isn’t in great demand) and I knew I wanted a copy to read again and keep on my bookshelf. But which book shelf? Ricardian? Medieval? General Reading? How about Old Friends.
This, then, is the kind of historical fiction on which I cut my reading teeth.
The story opens with the birth of Louis. It is a difficult birth and the gray-bearded doctors who do nothing but stand around and pontificate on what should be done and how it should be done have the birthing chamber locked up tighter than a drum. No light, no fresh air, the room suffocatingly warm from a burning fire. The young queen is failing. The doctors wash their hands of the matter. It’s up to God, they say, and leave the room. The midwife, who knows more about childbirth than all the doctors combined, has the windows opened and the room refreshed.
“The best calves are dropped in the open fields,” she snapped. “Fresh air! Fetch me a bucket of hot water from the kitchens. Another, icy cold from the wine cellar. And while you’re there, bring me a bottle of brandy, the strongest you can find, brandy from Armagnac. And in the name of all the saints, put out that stinking fire!”
Among those attending the birth of the dauphin are Jean, Count of Foix, and his uncle, Bernard d’Armangac. Neither man cares for the other and later, in a private meeting with Renaud of Chartres, the Duke-Archbishop of Reims, Bernard confesses the story of a strapping young man, Henri LeClerq, who is newly attached to the suite of the Comte de Comminges, a story of a brother’s unnatural love for his sister, and the sister’s indiscretion with the Count of Foix. Henri, one of the few fictional characters in the book, later plays an important part in the story, becoming among other things Louis’ chief of artillery.
“No treachery, but want of men and money! Amongst the soldiers there is muttered that you maintain several factions.” ~Henry VI, Part 1, as quoted in the novel.
We then fast forward a number of years. The dauphin is in his early teens and an appropriate marriage is sought but none is found. The Duke-Archbishop tries for several years to secure a marriage to Princess Margaret of Scotland, but to no avail because French fortunes are on the wane and England pushes deeper towards Paris. This is during the latter days of the Hundred Years War, and when a young peasant girl named Joan rallies her countrymen and French fortunes improve, the Scottish king changes his mind and off to France goes Margaret with her dowry not in money, but an army under the Earl of Douglas.
Louis’ father, King Charles VII, is a crude man who cares more for hunting, drinking, and wenching than ruling a country. When the young dauphin asks a perfectly logical question about whether or not the international situation requires a pregnancy at this time, Charles answers coarsely,
“why don’t you invite the conseil du roy into your bedchamber tomorrow night and debate the matter with them? They will be delighted to oblige. Several, indeed, will want to revive the old privilege of witnessing the authentication of the blood royal.”
Instead of seeing Louis as a continuation of his dynasty, Charles and his council feel threatened by the young dauphin, a young man who circumstances have made wise beyond his years.
Throughout the book we see Louis grow and mature from an uncertain youth who makes some pretty serious mistakes, to a man who learns that to survive, to be a good king, he needs to be manipulative and ruthless when the circumstances call for it, refusing to get caught by surprise and using the weakness of others to promote his own agenda, which is to strengthen and consolidate France.
Like his English counterpart (the above mentioned Richard III), we have a man born into difficult circumstances, who has to deal with physical disabilities, who does his best to do what is right for his country, and has a strong connection to the common folk. As a youth and a young man, Louis is a fighter of renown also like Richard, but where Richard was known for having a strong streak of the chivalrous, Louis was the kind of fighter who would do anything to win.
Louis’ life has its share of sadness and tragedy – a childless first marriage, assassination attempts, his exile to the Dauphiny – but these events help shape the man who in spite of his father’s scheming to have the pope set him aside as heir becomes King Louis XI.
And this is just the first half of the book.
This, then, is historical fiction as I remember it, and as I read this book I was pleasantly surprised at how much came back to me from that first reading decades ago – Louis’ birth and death with the shades of France, past and future, hovering in the background; his wedding night and the firing of the cannon; his epilepsy (or as it was called back then, the falling sickness); a particularly nasty execution, and others. I was also pleased that the writing is extremely readable, not some stodgy, old-fashioned style that I’d outgrown. One night I read 100 pages without even realizing it, that’s how good it is. (You know how that goes: just a few more pages, just another chapter.)
So if you enjoy historical fiction with an interest in 15th century Europe, I highly recommend The Spider King by Lawrence Schoonover. It is out of print and not available as an ebook (although I wish it were!), so you’ll likely have to borrow it from a library or find a copy at a used book seller. Either way, get the book and give it a read. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did, and come away with a better understanding of what made the Spider King tick.
September 9, 2012
The Spider King is Louis XI of France. I'm a bit behind on book reviews (plus I have books waiting to be read), so I'm cutting this review short. If you want to know more about Louis you can read the Wiki page. This was a fairly interesting read throughout, and despite Louis not being 100% likeable all the time (he could a ruthless you-know-what), I did enjoy getting an inside look at the man and his time, and I really have to respect him for his goals for France and what he was able to accomplish. If the man and the period are of interest, I'd definitely recommend it. I did nod off a few times when things were more focused on the battles, but battles aren't usually my cuppa tea.
March 13, 2009
History of a great nation wrapped up in a fascinating biography. Intrigue, tactics, technology, romance, alchemy, family struggle. One of this great author's best!
November 8, 2014
Schoonover was a popular historical novelist in the 1950s but is largely forgotten today, unfortunately. His first novel, The Burnished Blade, set in France in the mid-15th century, was a bestseller. This one shares the same time and place, more or less, but with an entirely different set of characters -- except for the great financier, Jacques Coeur, who was a major figure in the earlier book, and has only a minor supporting role in this one.
The subject is the life of King Louis XI, son of Charles VII (the monarch whom Joan of Arc crowned and who was otherwise a complete waste of space), one of the first “modern” monarchs, a progenitor of the Renaissance and of Humanism -- though he likely wouldn’t have understood either term, really. But he knew the difference between the old, feudal way of ruling and the new, practical way. Louis preferred winning the battle by whatever means over fighting chivalrously and losing. (He was a courageous fighter in his youth, and when he more than once found himself unable to defeat an enemy knight in combat, he would simply kill the enemy horse, then dispatch the knight on his way to the ground.) Machiavelli later thought highly of his methods. The story follows the prince’s progress from childhood through early manhood, when his father learned not to trust him (young Louis was far more intelligent than his old man, who knew it and was made uncomfortable by the fact) and forced him into internal exile in the Dauphiné. Louis promptly reformed the province, made it run efficiently, gave the people a judicious amount of self-government, revolutionized its economy and its military (he was in love with the new technology of artillery), and made both admiring friends and deadly enemies. His father finally attacked the Dauphiné and Louis had to flee to his uncle, Duke Philip “the Good” of Burgundy, who maintained one of the most glittering courts of the age. Philip’s son, however, Charles “the Bold,” became a lifelong enemy of France and that enmity took up a large portion of Louis’s later life and career. But Louis won it all in the long run, pushing his country’s borders out to their present extent, centralizing the government, breaking the power of the great aristocrats, and (though he was a thorough autocrat himself) laying the groundwork for government by the people. Most of Schoonover’s historical interpretation is reasonable, though the author naturally dramatizes events that might not have been so eye-catching in real life. Nearly all the players, too, are real people, with the notable exception of Henri Le Clerq, Louis’s chief of artillery, whose bastardy adds a thread of intrigue to the story. The narrative style is very much that of a storyteller and even if you already know, in a general way, what’s going to happen, you won’t want to put it down until you -- and Louis -- both reach the end.
The subject is the life of King Louis XI, son of Charles VII (the monarch whom Joan of Arc crowned and who was otherwise a complete waste of space), one of the first “modern” monarchs, a progenitor of the Renaissance and of Humanism -- though he likely wouldn’t have understood either term, really. But he knew the difference between the old, feudal way of ruling and the new, practical way. Louis preferred winning the battle by whatever means over fighting chivalrously and losing. (He was a courageous fighter in his youth, and when he more than once found himself unable to defeat an enemy knight in combat, he would simply kill the enemy horse, then dispatch the knight on his way to the ground.) Machiavelli later thought highly of his methods. The story follows the prince’s progress from childhood through early manhood, when his father learned not to trust him (young Louis was far more intelligent than his old man, who knew it and was made uncomfortable by the fact) and forced him into internal exile in the Dauphiné. Louis promptly reformed the province, made it run efficiently, gave the people a judicious amount of self-government, revolutionized its economy and its military (he was in love with the new technology of artillery), and made both admiring friends and deadly enemies. His father finally attacked the Dauphiné and Louis had to flee to his uncle, Duke Philip “the Good” of Burgundy, who maintained one of the most glittering courts of the age. Philip’s son, however, Charles “the Bold,” became a lifelong enemy of France and that enmity took up a large portion of Louis’s later life and career. But Louis won it all in the long run, pushing his country’s borders out to their present extent, centralizing the government, breaking the power of the great aristocrats, and (though he was a thorough autocrat himself) laying the groundwork for government by the people. Most of Schoonover’s historical interpretation is reasonable, though the author naturally dramatizes events that might not have been so eye-catching in real life. Nearly all the players, too, are real people, with the notable exception of Henri Le Clerq, Louis’s chief of artillery, whose bastardy adds a thread of intrigue to the story. The narrative style is very much that of a storyteller and even if you already know, in a general way, what’s going to happen, you won’t want to put it down until you -- and Louis -- both reach the end.
May 30, 2015
Interesting to see that era from a French point of view.
September 23, 2015
Wonderfully told story of Louis XI. Schoonover brings the period and the challenges of leading in turbulent times to life.
March 15, 2024
I found this novel at a book sale and was surprised to see this author has written many successful historical novels—when I was a kid. I was taken in from page two. Louis XI is certainly a controversial king, and this novel highlights many of his contradictions. At first, I thought the author didn’t particularly care for Louis, as Dauphin, but as the book progressed it quickly became clear that Louis’ accomplishments greatly outweighed his strange habits. It appears that he had epilepsy, though this is not generally spoken of. Indeed, in the book he kept his affliction a deep secret. But its effects contributed to an occasional euphoria and failure of judgment (which got him into trouble with Charles, Duke of Burgundy). Naturally, this is a good plot device, but I did find an occasional mention of his epilepsy in the search engines. Louis hated his father Charles VIII—and the antipathy was mutual—to the point that he was forced to take refuge in his Dauphiné. Even then, he feared that an assassination attempt was ordered by his father, and fled to Burgundy to the court of Philip the Good until his father died. He stepped up to the throne with no trouble, and proved himself an able and energetic leader. His primary motive was to rule well and fairly, though his methods may occasionally have been unscrupulous. Fascinating character. The book was very well written and I highly recommend it.
March 1, 2022
The Universal Spider: Of Gunpowder and Iron
I am five hundred years from home. Forget the miles. After reading this near-lost treasure, I find myself still absorbed in the world of Louis XI. His was a world of popes and antipopes, catapults, the new technology of gunpowder, exploding cannonballs, trade guilds, small pox, cholera, astrology, intrigue, falconry, cock fights, dancing bears, wrestling, all in what was both the great age of minstrels and the great age of chivalry. A knight might be caught dead in lightweight armor, but never in new-fangled spectacles. There on the cusp of a world rising from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance, amidst the influence of a fading Roman Empire and a medieval power structure; Louis rose to the throne of France with the rise of Humanism and the close of the Hundred Years' War.
This marvel of statecraft and intrigue reads like a game of Crusader Kings. Louis was known for his ability to spin webs of intrigue and for his drive to expand his borders through the world of statecraft and secrets, in a time when his mental powers seemed like witchcraft to the common man. Of course, they didn't know about the seizures he kept hidden. More than just great content and an incredible story, Lawrence Schoonover had a command of words that was almost mesmerizing. The book is not easy to come by. A few tattered copies are floating around on Amazon, all threadbare and well-read. My hardback copy looks like the book pictured, though the illustrated dust jacket is so thin, I removed it before reading the book, afraid to tear it in the process of reading.
The book is in that Goldilocks zone of just the right amount of detail and action, weaponry and technology, politics and intrigue. But, I got lost in the research and in old maps of France online, savoring the intricacies of the changing geography.
This book is great. If you can find a copy, then read it! But, it is not on Kindle. There appears to only be the print copy availability.
I am five hundred years from home. Forget the miles. After reading this near-lost treasure, I find myself still absorbed in the world of Louis XI. His was a world of popes and antipopes, catapults, the new technology of gunpowder, exploding cannonballs, trade guilds, small pox, cholera, astrology, intrigue, falconry, cock fights, dancing bears, wrestling, all in what was both the great age of minstrels and the great age of chivalry. A knight might be caught dead in lightweight armor, but never in new-fangled spectacles. There on the cusp of a world rising from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance, amidst the influence of a fading Roman Empire and a medieval power structure; Louis rose to the throne of France with the rise of Humanism and the close of the Hundred Years' War.
"Surely gunpowder had exhausted both man's ingenuity and the devil's imagination...The horrid new stench of War... Many strong men were sick after Lectoure."
This marvel of statecraft and intrigue reads like a game of Crusader Kings. Louis was known for his ability to spin webs of intrigue and for his drive to expand his borders through the world of statecraft and secrets, in a time when his mental powers seemed like witchcraft to the common man. Of course, they didn't know about the seizures he kept hidden. More than just great content and an incredible story, Lawrence Schoonover had a command of words that was almost mesmerizing. The book is not easy to come by. A few tattered copies are floating around on Amazon, all threadbare and well-read. My hardback copy looks like the book pictured, though the illustrated dust jacket is so thin, I removed it before reading the book, afraid to tear it in the process of reading.
"But firearms were used only against human beings, not against animals, because the smoke of the slow match frightened them away... There was no way of exploding gunpowder without lighting it with fire."
The book is in that Goldilocks zone of just the right amount of detail and action, weaponry and technology, politics and intrigue. But, I got lost in the research and in old maps of France online, savoring the intricacies of the changing geography.
"... And the map of France lept South to rest upon the Mediterranean. From the Pyrenees to the Somme, from the Alps to the Atlantic, from the channel to the Mediterranean, France! 'Now,' said the king, 'I must have the Rhine.'"
This book is great. If you can find a copy, then read it! But, it is not on Kindle. There appears to only be the print copy availability.
July 19, 2020
great book
June 16, 2023
This was really good. I knew nothing about this king so everything was a surprise to me. The writing style was hard to keep up with - multiple changes in point of view and the sudden unexpected leaps over many many years - but the characters were interesting and the historical detail fascinating. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews