The Abbot's Tale
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4.5 • 17 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
In the year 937, the new king of England, a grandson of Alfred the Great, readies himself to go to war in the north. His dream of a united kingdom of all England will stand or fall on one field—on the passage of a single day. At his side is the priest Dunstan of Glastonbury, full of ambition and wit (perhaps enough to damn his soul). His talents will take him from the villages of Wessex to the royal court, to the hills of Rome—from exile to exaltation. Through Dunstan’s vision, by his guiding hand, England will either come together as one great country or fall back into anarchy and misrule . . . From one of our finest historical writers, The Abbott’s Tale is an intimate portrait of a priest and performer, a visionary, a traitor and confessor to kings—the man who can change the fate of England.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Having already taken on Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, and the War of the Roses, Iggulden (The Dangerous Book for Boys) successfully dramatizes the life of Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury and confidant of King Aethelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great. At Aethelstan's side, Dunstan takes part in the Battle of Brunanburh in 937 CE to protect England from Viking and Scottish invaders and is rewarded with the Benedictine monastery at Glastonbury, to which he is named abbot. Over the years, Dunstan will serve several of Aethelstan's descendants, be named treasurer of England, become involved in court intrigues, and undergo banishment to Ghent. Upon his recall from exile, he travels to Rome to meet Pope John XII, is named archbishop of Canterbury, and helps build a cathedral there. Purported by the author to be a "found" document, this tale is narrated by Dunstan in wittily modest fashion. There are more than enough holes in the historical record for Iggulden to fill out Dunstan's life story imaginatively. And though this is less dramatic than Iggulden's novels about other historical figures, it nevertheless immerses the reader in 10th-century England.
