Books : Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England

Rating: - Detailed and vivid. Very well-researched, as I would expect
The book brings both Eleanor and her family to life. It is easy to empathise with her when reading of her difficulties with both her husband and the problems of living in England. She became very much a part of my life for the all too short time it took me to read the book. Yet again, Alison Weir has managed, through intensive research to bring a long dead queen to life and remind everyone of what she endured for her much beloved husband. I found it hard to put the book down and once I had done so, equally hard to forget about Eleanor.

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Rating: - More history than biography
A big fan of Alison Weir's previous books, I was disappointed with this. It was a history of Eleanor's lifetime rather than a biography of Eleanor herself.

Although historical biographies always need to provide the context of the subject's life, there is not enough information about Eleanor to create the right balance. I learned more about King John than I did about the subject!

Weir states in the introduction that people tried to dissuade her from writing this because of the lack of source material. This was good advice, for this book is too long & contains too much unnecessary detail.

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Rating: - An excellent book and a great read.
I was a bit dubious as to whether Alison Weir would be able to write as well about Eleanor as she did about the Tudors, due to the lack of resources, but she has made an excellent effort. It was interesting to read about Eleanor's first marriage which I knew so little about before.

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Rating: - Fascinating study of the life/times of the shapers of Europe
Patricularly good are the pages dealing with Eleanor's involvement in the Crusades. The attention to detail and the excellent descriptive passages presents a real insight as to what it must have really been like. Apart from this, I do feel the title of the book is a bit of a misnomer, as Eleanor herself is more of a 'bit player' rather than the central character. More appropriate would have been 'Henry II - his life and times'. However, having said that, this is an excellent book for those who wish to learn about the origins of the centuries of conflict between England and France. It is well written, always interesting and likely to lead the reader to other books on the same period

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Rating: - Great book about an amazing woman
Alison Weir makes the book easy to read while no one would doubt its historical accuracy. A must for anyone interested in history, or just looking for a cracking story! I can't wait until some film maker picks up on this book and produced a feature film about Eleanor.