I'm often critical of histories for being too dry and lifeless, but here is a scholarly work which, while academic in its rigor, has the potency of narrative fiction. Joan of Arc, or Joan the Maid as she called herself, launched a remarkable uprising in France as, at the age of 19, and claiming to herself the will of god, lead a French army against the British during the Hundred Years War. She helped crown a king and win freedom for France, but the divine guidance she claimed was no match for the political machinations inside the French nobility. A faction opposed to Joan's Dauphin betrayed her, sold her out to the British who handed her over to a religious court for trial and sentencing. The trial was a sham which rammed through a conviction against Joan which was later overturned, but not until long after she was burned at the stake, a traditional punishment for Christian heretics.
Joan of Arc was a remarkable woman living in a time antithetical to the rights of women. Distrusted and despised by her enemies, and little more than a means to an end for her king intent upon his own power and achievement, she was wronged at virtually every step by men who did not appreciate her uniqueness. But then the medieval world was not kind to exceptional souls, over all of whom it cast a suspicious and jealous eye.
This is a thoroughly researched biography of Joan and the politics that surrounded her in life and lead to her death. There's a scarcity of speculation here on what her mental condition may have been, but virtually every other aspect of her life is deconstructed and explained in a most edifying way. Dry but enjoyable. Well-balanced. (3/5 Stars)
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