The Black Rose

Rating:
Summary: A historical adventure both magical and exhilarating.
Review: A mix of enduring love, adventure and history. This is my favorite book of all time! Obviously it's Costain's best, and I've read them all.

Rating:
Summary: A historical adventure both magical and exhilarating.
Review: A mix of enduring love, adventure and history. This is my favorite book of all time! Obviously it's Costain's best, and I've read them all.

Rating:
Summary: A rare and wonderful piece of historical fiction!
Review: At age 12, this was the first book that I read by Thomas Costain. I have since read as many as I could find. The book is filled with the rich details of life in olde England and Cathy (China). The book develops the characters to the point that you laugh and cry with them. While enjoying a love story and an adventure, you gain insight into the technical advances of ancient China and the difficulties endured on the overland trade routes to the Orient. A remarkable gem in Costain's crown of literary works.

Rating:
Summary: A rare and wonderful piece of historical fiction!
Review: At age 12, this was the first book that I read by Thomas Costain. I have since read as many as I could find. The book is filled with the rich details of life in olde England and Cathy (China). The book develops the characters to the point that you laugh and cry with them. While enjoying a love story and an adventure, you gain insight into the technical advances of ancient China and the difficulties endured on the overland trade routes to the Orient. A remarkable gem in Costain's crown of literary works.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Not Great
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Not Great
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite historical novel, bar none.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book! Wonderfully Pictured!
Review: 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"

Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Read!
Review: Walter is the bastard son of an English peer. Because of his involvement in the Oxford University riots of 1273, he is forced to flee England along with his friend Tristram, leaving behind the love of his live.
This book, as all Costain's novels, is well researched and thoroughly entertaining.
The reader will follow Walter's adventures in exotic places such as Antioch, Cathay, Bombay, Venice, Marseilles.
During his travels he will fall in love with another woman, and upon his return to England, he must submit to the king's decision on which of the two women he must marry: his first love, Engaine, or the "Black Rose".
I highly recommend this book.