Heir to a great warrior, devoted husband and father, fearless crusader knight and charismatic leader, a man whose passion for good governance was so fierce that he seized the reins of power from a king whose rule he believed to be unjust.
This extraordinary man was Simon de Monfort, whose rebellion against Henry III ended in August 1265 on the field of battle. In The Song of Simon de Montfort, Sophie Thérèse Ambler tells his story with vivid clarity, revealing all of the excitement, chaos and human tragedy of England's first revolution.
'One of the finest medieval biographies of recent years' Gareth Russell, The Times

'This is an astonishingly assured debut by an extremely talented young historian' Saul David, Daily Telegraph

'It's rare to find a story and a storyteller so well matched' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Times

Dr Sophie Thérèse Ambler is a historian of medieval Europe and the Crusades. She is a Lecturer in Medieval History at Lancaster University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has appeared on radio and TV for BBC and Channel 4, and written for BBC History Magazine and The Historian. She is the author of The Song of Simon de Montfort: England's First Revolutionary. She divides her time between Lancaster and London.

Section - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Maps Section - iii: Epigraph Section - iv: Prologue Introduction - v: Introduction Section - vi: A Note on Money Chapter - 1: A Way of Living, and a Way of Dying Chapter - 2: A New Kingdom Chapter - 3: Love Chapter - 4: Holy War Chapter - 5: An Exemplar of Defeat Chapter - 6: Ruler of Gascony Chapter - 7: A New Enemy Chapter - 8: The Seizure of Power Chapter - 9: The Reform of the Kingdom Chapter - 10: Rule by Conscience Chapter - 11: Betrayal Chapter - 12: Revolution Chapter - 13: Triumph Chapter - 14: Disaster Chapter - 15: Evesham Section - vii: Epilogue Section - viii: Notes Index - ix: Index