"The twelfth century in England is a period of history that is rife with mysteries and contradictions. It is also host to some of the most famous, dramatic and romantic moments in British history: Henry Il's legendary love affair with Rosamond Clifford: the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral; Richard I's Third Crusade to the Holy Land and his confrontation with Saladin; the miseries of England under the stewardship of Prince John, and that monarch' later reluctant signing of the Magna Carta. In this book, Richard Low examines in detail the period from 1140 to the death of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Many years of painstaking research have led him to question a number of crucial aspects of this period."