Blood Cries Afar: 1216 [Hardcover]

A full and well-researched narrative … makes for a powerful and gripping read showing a mastery of the sources…. [McGlynn] keeps the reader turning the pages. Moreover he has plenty of good vignettes to offer. Few readers will forget the colourful character William of Kensham, nicknamed Willikin of the Weald…who may have provided inspiration for the Robin Hood stories. A lively and wide-ranging study. --Nigel Saul- History Today

McGlynn tells a dashing story with gusto...This is an entertaining military history of a very exciting reign. --Dan Jones- The Spectator

McGlynn tells a stirring tale of mounted knights and castle sieges, Machiavellian political manoeuvrings and prisoners rotting in dungeons. It is surprising that so dramatic a period should be so neglected. --Hampshire Chronicle

150 years after the Norman Conquest, history came within a hair's breadth of repeating itself. In 1216, taking advantage of the turmoil created in England by King John's inept rule and the war over Magna Carta, Prince Louis of France and his army of mercenaries and French soldiers invaded England and allied with English rebels. The prize was the crown of England. Within months Louis had seized control of one-third of the country, including the capital, London. This is the first book to cover the bloody events of the invasion, one of the most dramatic but most overlooked episodes of British history. The text vividly describes the campaigns, sieges, battles and atrocities of the invasion and its colourful leaders - Louis the Lion, King John, William Marshal, and the mercenaries Fawkes de Beaute and Eustace the Monk - to offer the first detailed military analysis of this epic struggle for England.

Sean McGlynn is the author of the acclaimed By Sword and Fire: Cruelty and Atrocity in Medieval Warfare, which is published in four languages. He is a regular contributor to books and authoritative reference works, as well as to history magazines and academic journals such as BBC History, History Today, History and English Historical Review. He has studied and researched at King's College London, London School of Economics and Cardiff University. He has lectured in History at the universities of Bristol and of Bath, and currently lectures for the University of Plymouth at Strode College and the Open University.