The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March

Description

The first biography of the evil genius and rebel baron who deposed and murdered Edward II. The first biography of the rebel baron who deposed and murdered Edward II. One night in August 1323 a captive rebel baron, Sir Roger Mortimer, drugged his guards and escaped from the Tower of London. With the king's men-at-arms in pursuit he fled to the south coast, and sailed to France. There he was joined by Isabella, the Queen of England, who threw herself into his arms. A year later, as lovers, they returned with an invading army- King Edward II's forces crumbled before them, and Mortimer took power. He removed Edward II in the first deposition of a monarch in British history. Then the ex-king was apparently murdered, some said with a red-hot poker, in Berkeley Castle. Brutal, intelligent, passionate, profligate, imaginative and violent- Sir Roger Mortimer was an extraordinary character. It is not surprising that the queen lost her heart to him. Nor is it surprising that his contemporaries were terrified of him. But until now no one has appreciated the full evil genius of the man. This first biography reveals not only the man's career as a feudal lord, a governor of Ireland, a rebel leader and a dictator of England but also the truth of what happened that night in Berkeley Castle. 'Mortimer's book roars, races and sings... with a sense of passion and drama and an unrelenting pace' Daily Telegraph

Dr Ian Mortimer is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England and The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England, as well as four critically acclaimed medieval biographies, and numerous scholarly articles on subjects ranging in date from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1998. His work on the social history of medicine won the Alexander Prize (2004) and was published by the Royal Historical Society in 2009. He lives with his wife and three children in Moretonhampstead, on the edge of Dartmoor.

Mortimer's book roars, races and sings... with a sense of passion and drama and an unrelenting pace * Daily Telegraph * Ian Mortimer's exacting standards of scholarship mean that this book will undoubtedly remain the standard authority on its subject * Independent on Sunday * A compelling page-turner -- Alison Weir * Sunday Times *