the conquering family is the first book in the four book series on the 14 men who became kings of england in the plantagenet line. this first book covers the reigns of henry ii and his two sons richard i and john as well as the influence of his wife eleanor of acquitaine. thomas costain has a breezy style and bring these people to life as few authors can or have. excellent reading and a good introduction to the other three books.

THE CONQUERING FAMILY is the first book of four by Thomas Costain on the Plantagenet kings of England. In my opinion, this set, and the 3-volume masterpiece by Shelby Foote on the U.S. Civil War, are the best historical series I've ever read. (The last three volumes in the Costain quartet are: THE MAGNIFICENT CENTURY, THE THREE EDWARDS, and THE LAST PLANTAGENETS.)

THE CONQUERING FAMILY chronicles the reigns of Henry II (1154-1189), and his sons Richard I "the Lionhearted" (1189-1199) and John (1199-1216). Henry II, in my opinion the greatest of English monarchs, created an empire that included not only Britain, but perhaps as much as two-thirds of present day France (thanks, in great part, to his marriage to the dynamic Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Duchess of that province and the former Queen of France.) By the end of John's reign, virtually all French possessions were lost and England was racked by civil war. No chip off the old block was John.

The general public usually associates Henry II with his quarrel with, and eventual murder of, Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury. Richard I is, of course, "the Lionhearted" king who crusaded in the Holy Land against the infidels, and who has a fictional association with Robin Hood. And, lastly, there's the misfit King John, of Magna Carta fame.

A perfect companion piece to this volume is the 1968 film THE LION IN WINTER, starring Peter O'Toole as Henry and Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor, the latter winning an Academy Award for her performance. The film's story evolves over Christmas, 1183, in the royal castle of Chinon, as Henry, Eleanor, and sons Richard, Geoffrey and John quarrel, backstab, and plot amongst themselves as to which son will inherit the thrown on Henry's death. It's my all-time favorite film for reasons given in my review of it on this website. More to the point, the book and the film are consistent in their portrayal of this royal family as dysfunctional with a capital "D". It's a quote from Hepburn's Eleanor that heads this review, and which says it all. (By comparison, the current English royal family is merely a bunch of trivial sissies.) Both the book and the film are powerful portrayals of a ruling dynasty, the likes of which the world will likely never see again. If you're at all interested in English history, you absolutely must not overlook either the Costain series or the movie.

I picked up this book and haven't been able to put it down. Mr. Costain has written a vivid and engrossing account of the lives of the Plantagenets who ruled England. He begins with Henry I (who was not a Plantagenet), whose daughter Matilda married, for her second husband, Geoffery of Anjou (who would be the first to be called by the name Plantagenet). The family is handled down to and including John, brother of the so-named Richard the Lion Heart.

His account is respendent with detail where it exsists historically or is highly suggested culturally. He notes the difference by indicating what was probable, what was possible, what is known, and what is thought to be known.

Before I click over into my dry academic language, let me say that this book rocks! It is obviously well researched. I would recommend reading this BEFORE you read Alison Weir's "The Princes in the Tower." After you read "The Conquering Family" may I suggest picking up "The Three Edwards" (also by Costain). This will give you a good portion of the background and backdrop of English History against which the tragedy of the imprisonment and subsequent disappearance of Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York (not to be confused with their uncle who would later become Richard III). THEN read "The Princes in the Tower," which of course examines, in light of ALL of the available historical evidence, the 'who-did-it,' 'when,' and 'how' of the disappearance and death of the two young princes (King and Duke actually).

Given the time period which "The Conquering Family" treats, there are next to no pictures. While I would dread to see enough pictures to warrant calling this a pictorial history, I would suggest that some portraits of the participants and such, would have helped to spark the imagination of the reader and to further engage their interest. Also, while there are maps in the book, there is no listing of the maps in the front of the book, and a map of locations such as Anjou, could only have served to enhance the readers' perspective and understanding of the subject matter.

Now if someone would only buy me "The Magnificent Century" and "The Last Plantagenets"!

I first read these books 20 years ago, and the opportunity to purchase them in a new edition is the thrill of the year for me. Costain makes the period come alive, with all its heroes, villains, and bystanders. While many of Costain's opinions and conclusions are somewhat dated by more recent research, there is no more delightful reading experience amongst modern histories of the middle ages.

Costain gives his usual rousing treatment to a period not widely treated.

To my surprise, I found this to be the best of the four-volume series by Costain on medieval English history. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I started in the belief that Henry III did not merit an entire volume to himself. Then I realized that this Weathercock King lived an extremely long life and all that happened during his reign was momentous indeed. For instance, learning how the Countess of Flanders played a part in ensuring future Vatican Cardinals always wear red is something I didn't think I would chance upon during this read. Or all the little bios Costain supplies for people long since lost to the annals of time. Great stuff, I simply couldn't put it down.

I am a big fan of Thomas Costain. I loved his book (Below the Salt). This was a pretty good book, but I was a bit disappointed. I didn't feel that the character development for the historical figures such as Edward I was that well done. I have read many better books about this great Plantangenet king. I have also read better books about the Mongol occupation in China. (try Gary Jennings'Journeyor). This book seemed simplistic to me and is probably a good introduction to historical fiction for a younger reader.

I first read The Black Rose in the late sixties while still in high school. I have read it at least 4 or 5 times since. I always disliked history in school but this book and others like it make history come alive. Admittedly, as Costain notes in his forward, he meant the book to be more about Edward I and Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, but became more caught up in the legend of Thomas a Becket's parents: an English knight married to an Eastern girl. In spite of this, it is well researched and shows good attention to detail while keeping the reader truly engrossed in the story line. All the locales are marvelously described: Oxford, medieval castles and their mores, Antioch, Cathay, Bombay, Venice, and Marseilles. This is the story of how a young man born to a privileged family comes to believe in the rights of the common man and the journey that forces this change in his beliefs. It is also the story of a great love between the unlikliest of lovers; an illegitimate young man of noble English family and the sister of a powerful merchant of Antioch. It is a good read, as are all of Costain's books. Other books by Costain that are worth exploring are Below the Salt ( a sci-fi take on the Magna Carta era a la "Back to the Future), The Silver Chalice (about Joseph of Arimathea and the Apostles), and The Darkness and the Dawn (about Attila the Hun). All are very good reads, will get you interested in history, and ready to explore more detailed books on the subject.

The adventure and excitment is phenominal! Everything is spelled out with a certain elegance that goes wonderfully with the 1200's picture in your mind. Walter and Tristram have good times and bad. Love and hate. And it is all displayed in a way that is hard to find. Costain is a wonderful writer. I am now reading his book "The Tontine"

The last installment of the "A History of the Plantagenents" succeeds admirably. Costain has a way of transferring is love and excitement of a subject onto his pages. It's a method that has yet to be rivaled. He gives each character a distinct personality no matter how trivial. William Caxton being a prime example. About half the book is concentrated on Richard II, which is fine because most historians either concentrate on the Black Prince or Henry V and skip over him. Here we see a sympathetic monarch who was easily bullied and who made some bad decisions early in his reign. After Richard II, he continues on through the kings until Richard III. Here he breaks protocol and gives evidence in defense of Shakespeare hunchback, citing Tudor propaganda as the catalyst. Normally, Costain is careful to present detailed accounts of both sides to an arguement, but here he takes a stance. It is quite refreshing and readers will eat it up. Highly recommended as well as the others in the series. My uncle gave me these books and I plan on returning the favor when the next generation comes my way. Treasure these.

English History at it's finest. You feel as if you are there with these people, living their lives. Always in good form, this is one of Costain's best.

Mr. Costain is a very good historian. His scholarship is thorough and his conclusions are always logically wrought and sometimes surprising. His sensibilities are surprisingly contemporary, although I would not term him a "revisionist," (he wrote this history in the 1950s). For example, in his defense of Richard III (in this, the final book in this four-volume history) he travails against conventional opinion to demonstrate why King Richard was, indeed, not the Richard III of Thomas More as popularized by Shakespeare and held true to this day. And in the first volume, the author dashes myth and idle folklore to side with those historians who portray Eleanor of Aquitaine as the wise and effective check on Henry II and her sons that, she no doubt was. In so doing he disperses, through well-reasoned argument, the rumors and "Entertainment-Tonight" kind of fluff (History-Lite) that many still believe. I had been told these four volumes were classics. After reading them, but without being a scholar of history, I think those critical readers might be right. Certainly, Mr. Costain opened my eyes to a different kind of history telling, one in which an historian does not hesitate to conjecture or opine openly and to honestly make his case and then leave it for a reader's judgement. From front to back, from first through fourth volumes, this is a valuable and pleasurable experience. Mr Costain, presents, argues, harangues convention and, always entertains with a use of the language that is as sharp as his reasoning and as precise as his scholarship. Mr. Costain is a very good story-teller.

This book gives you an inside view of the Luke and Paul and the other apostles as they struggle to give Jesus' church life. It talks about the danger they were in and the predjudice they faced. I read it before an exam in religion to help me understand the new testament better...it worked! The story follows a young man who was illegally enslaved and then had his freedom purchased by Luke so that he could produce a silver chalice with the likeness of all of the prophets. In order to do so he has to travel around to their lectures and speeches, stay in their homes and become friends with them. It is very insightful. A nice long book, that should keep you busy for quite a few hours of reading time.

This book is long but worth every bit. When I read it I can't put it down (and I've read it several times!). The characters and plot are indepth and believable. This book gives me a window into another world. I would definitely recommend it.

This book was given to me over the summer by my mother who read it when she was young. From the moment I opened it, I couldn't put it down. The story of Basil's journey from Antioch to Jerusalem is one of great courage and faith. The fictional characters are well developed, and the historical ones are portrayed quite uniquely with qualities of real people one seldoms sees in Paul and Luke. This book has led me to read more of this genre, including Taylor Caldwell's "Dear and Glorious Physician". The awkward situation Basil finds himself in between Helena and Deborra is a believable situation, and it provides great insight into the mind of an intelligent, and proud young man. I recommend this book to those who are fascinated with history, the Christian religion and excellent writing.

A very literate friend once told me "The Tontine" (Thomas Costain)was the best book he had ever read. I am reading it through and can see why he said that - though I won't go that far. Tontines are an interesting financial vehicle, but TC weaves a social history of England post Waterloo around the story.

I found this book by accident -- two volumes in a box of books to be thrown out.
It takes place beginning on the day the Duke of Wellington defeats Bonaparte at Waterloo, and follows the fortunes of two rival families through Regency and early Victorian England, along with their friends, lovers, enemies and many famous figures who have 'walk-on' parts.
The title comes from a type of lottery popular in England at the time, in which four of the young characters are enrolled by their parents, and the tontine is instrumental in each of their lives, right to the last.
It's worth the length, and provides an interesting view of the England of that time, its manners and mores.

The story is set in England immediately after Wellington's victory over Napolean. A rather not so prominent businessman gets an idea that while rumors on the London stock exchange of Wellington's defeat are rampant, that these rumors could not possibly be true-- because Wellington is the English field general. While everyone is selling their securities at cut rate prices, anticipating a national depression, this character is buying-- and makes a vast fortune in the process. It is rumored that he may have been somehow conected with Rothschild (a real life persoange) who knew the true results of the Battle of Waterloo through an ingenous system of semiphores which sent him the information over the English Channel hours before anyone else had knowledge of the battle. This same character parlays this great fortune into the largest industrial concern of his period, and involves himself in the management of a "tontine" (an old fashioned type of "pyramid" scheme). While at first blush the story appears to be a social study of 19th century England, it is much, much more. Each character's life is weaved throughout the story to come back to the central theme of the novel, which is a more universal comment about the meaning of money and how it can be used for good or ill. Each character in his or her own way (even Nell Groody) is working an investment angle in a world 100 years before the SEC. Some are down and out right frauds, others are more legitimate enterprises. Costain has woven a magnificent yarn about people, each of whom is related in a concatenated series of events, and paints character sketches the like of which I have not seen since my last read of Dickens. They all come to life, and as they pass from the story (particularly those with ethics and humanity) it is as if you have lost a genuine friend.

the magic of this book does not depend on the plot but on the crisp dialogue , the tense succession of episodes , the kaleidoscopic change of scenes ! costain at his best - setting his scene with high competence and keeps his plot at the bubbling point to the end...