Joan of Arc by Helen Castor

Joan of Arc

A History

Helen Castor

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · May 19, 2015

From the author of the acclaimed She-Wolves, the complex, surprising, and engaging story of one of the most remarkable women of the medieval world—as never told before.

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Who it’s for
A familiar story unfolds without hindsight, restoring uncertainty to Joan’s history.
Genres
French History, Lives in History, Medieval History
Published
HarperCollins, May 19, 2015

About this book

From the author of the acclaimed She-Wolves, the complex, surprising, and engaging story of one of the most remarkable women of the medieval world—as never told before. Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint.

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But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor’s Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to fifteenth century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt, a roaring girl who, in fighting the English, was also taking sides in a bloody civil war. We meet this extraordinary girl amid the tumultuous events of her extraordinary world where no one—not Joan herself, nor the people around her—princes, bishops, soldiers, or peasants—knew what would happen next. Adding complexity, depth, and fresh insight into Joan’s life, and placing her actions in the context of the larger political and religious conflicts of fifteenth century France, Joan of Arc: A History is history at its finest and a surprising new portrait of this remarkable woman. Joan of Arc: A History features an 8-page color insert.

History Without Hindsight

A familiar story unfolds without hindsight, restoring uncertainty to Joan’s history.

Come here for

  • A forward-moving account of faith, doubt, and civil war
  • Joan as a living woman, not an icon

Expect

  • Fifteenth-century France amid political and religious turmoil
  • Events unfolding without anyone knowing what comes next

Where it sits

Medieval History49%
French History45%
Lives in History40%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Lives in History
  • French History
  • Christianity
Authors
Helen Castor
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
May 19, 2015
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Lives in History