Author Description

Sequel to The Devil is Loose.This is the story of King John, that strange, unhappy monarch who was the first and last of his name on the English throne. Called Lackland by some, as a measure of his wealth, Softsword by others, as the measure of his military prowess (some said his virility), he was reckoned a poor choice to succeed his heroic brother, Richard the Lionhearted.With a wealth of detail and historical exactitude, Graham Shelby recreates an era and a man whose rancorous tyranny, ironically, produced one of the sweetest moments in the struggle for human liberty—Magna Carta. We see King John, short of stature, richly dressed, clutching frantic jeweled fingers to his brow, vainly attempting to control the uncontrollable "Angevin rage"; we find him gloating in victory and whimpering in defeat; we learn of his ferocious sexuality with his sharp-tongued French queen; we learn the reasons for his hatred of his indomitable mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine; we follow the tortured and tortuous turnings of his mind as he betrays one loyal servant after another in his army, among his barons, and, finally, in the royal family itself. We discover, in short, the full measure of an unchivalrous man in an age of chivalry, who earned the contempt not only of his contemporaries but of future generations as well.Mr. Shelby shows here how it all came about, and how the man whose father and brother were revered as lions on the throne came to be known as the wolf at the door.