Author Description

1920 edition with color illustrations"Ivanhoe" is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1820. It represented a shift by Scott away from fairly realistic novels set in Scotland in the comparatively recent past, to a somewhat fanciful depiction of medieval England."Ivanhoe" is set in 12th-century England, with colourful descriptions of a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial and divisions between Jews and Christians. It has also had an important influence on popular perceptions of Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart and King John. This is the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families at a time when the nobility in England was overwhelmingly Norman. It follows the Saxon Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is out of favour with his father for his allegiance to the Norman king Richard the Lionheart. The story is set in 1194, after the failure of the Third Crusade, when many of the Crusaders were still returning to their homes in Europe."Ivanhoe" is one of the best known and most influential of Sir Walter Scott's novels.