Rating: 
Summary: Run on, run on, run on, Aqutaine.
Review: A truly facinating account of the family, politics and times of Eleanor of Aquitaine. There seems to be a great shortage of information about Eleanor herself and most of the time I forgot it was a book about her until she is mentioned again. I dont not believe this is the fault of the writer as I believe there is precious little information available on her.
My only real complaint is the overwhelming ubiquitousness of run-on sentences. The sheer volume of them should have been an embarassment to the author.
All in all a very good book although the title mislead me to believe it would be a book about Eleanor. It is an excellent look at the times she lived in and the family that surrounded her.
If you are not interested in the time period then this book will be a disappointment. If you are, then you will enjoy this book as much as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Mmm...Meddling
Review: As with all of Weir's work, with one figure's biography you learn about everyone and everything they encounter. She explores the life of Eleanor, of Europe, her husbands, their culture and history, and then proceeds to the reigns of her sons. I find that spectacular in her biographies, the introduction to these people not as just an historic figure, but as a multi dimensional personality, taking not only their actions into perspective, but also the accounts of those around them. How Eleanor affected the world around her is astounding in a time so riddled with masogynistic ideals. I have become a plethera of knowledge due to my fanatic attraction to the Alison Weir biography, and this is a prime example why.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring book of most fascinating woman ever
Review: Ever since I read "A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver" when I was about 11, Eleanor of Aquitaine has been my most favoritest historical figure. So I was intrigued when I heard about this book. But it was the MOST BORING history book I have read. I don't know how Allison Weir managed to write such a boring book about such a fascinating person, but she did. I realize that there is not much historical documentation about Eleanor, but this book did nothing for me. What a disappointment!
Rating:
Summary: Accurate, readable biography of legendary Queen
Review: Ever since I saw Katherine Hepburn play Eleanor of Aquitaine in the film Lion in Winter, I have read everything available on this fascinating 12th century woman - and this book was, by far, the most readable, and probably the most accurate. Though Allison Weir avoids over romanticizing the story by passing along legends as facts (that Eleanor murdered her husband's mistress or the many tales surrounding her Court of Love), she still weaves a fascinating tale. Because Weir is such a stickler for researched facts, there are long sections where she admits that very little is known about what exactly Eleanor was doing at the time (most notably during the murder of Thomas Becket), but I still never lost interest - and she provides enough balanced background on the many characters that you develop a true understanding for their complicated motives. After reading Weir's other books (especially the definitive "Six Wives of Henry VIII"), I was positive that this would be another enjoyable history lesson - and Ms. Weir, as usual, did not disappoint!
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent....Mrs Weir does it again!
Review: Great work by a great author.This book is a must for Middle Ages fans and historians.Mrs Weir style and narrative is fantastic.I loved every chapter of this book not only because of Eleanor's amazing life but because Mrs Weir describes her life in light of what was happening around Eleanor.You get a great account of Henry II's life and every one of her sons with him.The book is so well researched and interesting that i finished in less than a week......Great book!!
Rating:
Summary: Another fascinating book from Alison Weir
Review: In my humble opinion, Alison Weir is the best writer of accessible English history. She manages to write in a simple, accessible style without compromising detail or historical accuracy. Her books are fun to read, but so packed full of information.Taking a break from her usual subject of Tudor and Medieval English history, this book examines the life of Eleanor of Aquataine. It is easy to succumb to hyperbole when writing reviews, but it is NO exageration to say that Eleanor is one of the most interesting people to have ever graced this planet. Hieress of what is now southern France, she left her husband, the French king, for the English king and took her tremendous land holdings with her, thus prompting the 100 years war and causing the great English/French rivalry that has existed ever since. She botched the 2nd crusade by tagging along with her friends as "Amazons." She brought "the art of courtly love" to Paris and London, thus encouraging the creation of chivalry and the Aurthurian legend, and sponsored some of the most important advances in the arts during the early Middle Ages. She fathered 2 kings, acted as regent for one while he was on a Crusade, and was imprisoned by her husband for a decade because she helped her sons plan a coup d'etat. Are you starting to believe that I'm not exagerating? Weir brings all of her skills as a historian and writer to this book, and it is a fascinating read. If I have one complaint, it is that simply not enough detail exists about Eleanor's life. It's pretty hard to miss the major events, but when writing about a subject who lived 800 years ago it is simply a fact that very few letters, diaries, or personal accounts exist. These are the things that let us glimpse into the minds of great people, and it is sometimes maddening that there is no way to understand WHY things happened the way they did. Despite this, Weir manages to use the little she has to go on to great effect, and this is the best biography of Eleanor out there (though the Marion Meade one is also pretty good).
Rating:
Summary: Another fascinating book from Alison Weir
Review: In my humble opinion, Alison Weir is the best writer of accessible English history. She manages to write in a simple, accessible style without compromising detail or historical accuracy. Her books are fun to read, but so packed full of information. Taking a break from her usual subject of Tudor and Medieval English history, this book examines the life of Eleanor of Aquataine. It is easy to succumb to hyperbole when writing reviews, but it is NO exageration to say that Eleanor is one of the most interesting people to have ever graced this planet. Hieress of what is now southern France, she left her husband, the French king, for the English king and took her tremendous land holdings with her, thus prompting the 100 years war and causing the great English/French rivalry that has existed ever since. She botched the 2nd crusade by tagging along with her friends as "Amazons." She brought "the art of courtly love" to Paris and London, thus encouraging the creation of chivalry and the Aurthurian legend, and sponsored some of the most important advances in the arts during the early Middle Ages. She fathered 2 kings, acted as regent for one while he was on a Crusade, and was imprisoned by her husband for a decade because she helped her sons plan a coup d'etat. Are you starting to believe that I'm not exagerating? Weir brings all of her skills as a historian and writer to this book, and it is a fascinating read. If I have one complaint, it is that simply not enough detail exists about Eleanor's life. It's pretty hard to miss the major events, but when writing about a subject who lived 800 years ago it is simply a fact that very few letters, diaries, or personal accounts exist. These are the things that let us glimpse into the minds of great people, and it is sometimes maddening that there is no way to understand WHY things happened the way they did. Despite this, Weir manages to use the little she has to go on to great effect, and this is the best biography of Eleanor out there (though the Marion Meade one is also pretty good).
Rating:
Summary: A truly extraordinary book
Review: She was the wife of two kings (Louis VII of France and Henry II of England) and a fascinating and controversial woman in her own right. Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, was one of the most important and influential personalities of the Middle Ages and she truly comes alive in Alison Weir's masterful biography. After a short introduction on the history and culture of Southern France, Ms. Weir describes Eleanor's life in wonderful detail, examining contemporary sources, modern historical investigations, myth and reality. Everything you ever heard about Eleanor is here: her marriage to King Louis, her journey to Constantinople and Jerusalem during the Second Crusade, her marriage to King Henry, her emotional and political relations with her sons (two of them were also kings of England: Richard the Lionheart and King John), her role as Queen Regent, the legendary Courts of Love, and her imprisonment and eventual release are all told in Alison Weir's wonderful style. The author also includes a lot of information about other fascinating personalities of the time, such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Becket and William the Marshall, and she always manages to evoke the feeling of the period. This is a very well researched and brilliantly written biography that reads like a historical novel.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting book
Review: The greatest value in this book is the wide number of interesting characters from the time period that are introduced and brought to life by the author's endearing prose. Eleanor is a remarkable woman, having been queen to two different countries, but a power in her own right through her title in Aquitaine.
Interesting to see a woman with any power during this period of patriarchal control, but the strength of her personality contributed to era in remarkable ways.
Like all of Weir's books, there sometimes develop something bordering on personality cults with historical figures. Even so, the author gave a fair treatment of Eleanor's misbehavior on the crusade with her first husband King Louis.
As always, Weir's greatest contribution is her making historical figures accessible and personal. If her sympathetic writing may overstate a case here and there, her writing certainly helps spawn interest in people who have been gone for hundreds of years.
Rating:
Summary: Impeccable scholarship
Review: Weir's breadth of scholarship is astounding but for the reader interested in details about Eleanor of Aquitaine, Weir makes it quite clear that s/he is sure to be sorely disappointed. Although ostensibly a biography of Eleanor there is little about her in the book due to a decided absence of information regarding her life in contemporary sources. I was disappointed in this lack of detail but, not knowing much about 12th-13th century England and France, found myself reading on just to learn about the era. Weir writes with a real objectivity that I appreciated. I recommend this book to the reader interested in the general history of the Plantagenets and the period in which they lived.
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