Rating: 
Summary: Another great one by Weir.....
Review: Well, I think I read enough praises of this book from reading all the past reviews written prior to this one. I supposed another one probably won't hurt. And I am sure that some other person will come along after me to say the same thing.So having got that off my chest, I would say without a doubt that this book is probably the most readable biography on Eleanor of Aquitaine you will probably ever read. Its not only the most readable but its probably one of the best (although I enjoyed Amy Kelly's book just as much). The book was well written and with honesty, without much bias although it was pretty clear that Weir admired her subject. I liked that Weir tries to cut through many of the mediveal bias against Eleanor, especially on the Rosamund la Clifford affair. Only real complaint I would have is that its need more maps - for the casual readers whose knowledge of mediveal European geography may be lacking. But no one can go wrong reading this book and enjoying it at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent biography of the legendary queen
Review: You might know Eleanor of Aquitaine from that Katharine Hepburn/Peter O'Toole film "The Lion in Winter." That film is a dramatization of the famously tempestuous relationship between Eleanor, queen of both France and England, and her second husband Henry II. The story behind the movie is just as fascinating though. Alison Weir's fine scholarly account of this remarkable queen's life is both accessible for beginners and detailed enough for history buffs.
Weir is a stickler for details, so if she can't find much evidence for something in contemporary (for Eleanor) documents, she tends to disbelieve it. Thus medieval legends and modern lore are given short shrift here. For instance, it's commonly believed that Eleanor's son Richard the Lionhearted was gay. But Weir finds very little evidence for this and she dismisses the rumors. Weir is also (rightly) skeptical about the legend of Eleanor murdering Rosamond Clifford. On the other hand, Weir tends to lend credence to contemporary accounts -- thus, rumors that Eleanor was an unfaithful wife are given a lot of credit by Weir. Whether I agreed with these conclusions or not, this biography is remarkably well-researched and scholarly. Particularly helpful is a question and answer appendix with the author at the end of the book.
Eleanor and the players in her life (her husbands, her nine children) are all fascinating people, and it's almost a shame she lived so long ago and thus very few surviving documents survive from her era. How I'd like to see one of her letters! Or a portrait of her! However, this biography comes very close to bringing this legendary medieval queen to life.
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