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Robin Hood
Capturing all the romance of a traditional tale, this book tells the story of Robin Hood, the hero who, with his group of Merry Men, stole from the rich to give to the poor. The characters of Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlet and Maid Marion are also included.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
Antonia Fraser
183 books1,494 followersAntonia Fraser is the author of many widely acclaimed historical works, including the biographies Mary, Queen of Scots (a 40th anniversary edition was published in May 2009), Cromwell: Our Chief of Men, King Charles II and The Gunpowder Plot (CWA Non-Fiction Gold Dagger; St Louis Literary Award). She has written five highly praised books which focus on women in history, The Weaker Vessel: Women's Lot in Seventeenth Century Britain (Wolfson Award for History, 1984), The Warrior Queens: Boadecia's Chariot, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Marie Antoinette: The Journey (Franco-British Literary Prize 2001), which was made into a film by Sofia Coppola in 2006 and most recently Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King. She was awarded the Norton Medlicott Medal by the Historical Association in 2000. Antonia Fraser was made DBE in 2011 for her services to literature. Her most recent book is Must You Go?, celebrating her life with Harold Pinter, who died on Christmas Eve 2008. She lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 9, 2025
For me as a kid, Antonia Fraser’s Robin Hood became the ultimate Robin Hood story. I was twelve when I read it during America’s big, Bicentennial Summer, and to my kid brain, the book was an absolute authority on the subject because my parents bought it for me on a trip to London. I mean, Robin Hood was English, so they should know the story, right?
Like all twelve year old boys in the English-speaking world, I knew the basic Robin Hood story, but all I’d read up to that time was an oversized picture book I got in kindergarten and a Classic’s Illustrated comic book. I think I’d seen Disney’s animated Robin Hood, and had seen the part played by the legendary outlaws in the 1952 movie Ivanhoe, but there my knowledge of the legend ended.
Fraser’s book opened up a bigger story. There were new (to me) villains, like Guy of Gisborne. (In the streamlined tale I knew, the Sherif of Nottingham was the only villain.) The Merry Men were expanded, both in number and in detail. Will Scarlet, in Fraser’s telling, became the brains of the band, the master strategist behind Robin’s charismatic but impetuous leadership. I met Much the miller for the first time. There were more adventures, more dangers, more excitement. And the ending — well it was my first encounter with the story of Robin Hood’s end — tragic and romantically sad.
Later in life I would discover how many sources Fraser pulled from for her excellent YA retelling of Robin Hood. The ballads, of course, and Walter Scott, even scenes from the Errol Flynn film — she worked it all in. As a kid, I was sure that I’d come upon the absolutely authoritative version of the tale.
The copy I read as a kid was illustrated by the author’s thirteen year old daughter. Even the cover was her work. That was really an excellent touch, I think, to top off an already great YA book.
Like all twelve year old boys in the English-speaking world, I knew the basic Robin Hood story, but all I’d read up to that time was an oversized picture book I got in kindergarten and a Classic’s Illustrated comic book. I think I’d seen Disney’s animated Robin Hood, and had seen the part played by the legendary outlaws in the 1952 movie Ivanhoe, but there my knowledge of the legend ended.
Fraser’s book opened up a bigger story. There were new (to me) villains, like Guy of Gisborne. (In the streamlined tale I knew, the Sherif of Nottingham was the only villain.) The Merry Men were expanded, both in number and in detail. Will Scarlet, in Fraser’s telling, became the brains of the band, the master strategist behind Robin’s charismatic but impetuous leadership. I met Much the miller for the first time. There were more adventures, more dangers, more excitement. And the ending — well it was my first encounter with the story of Robin Hood’s end — tragic and romantically sad.
Later in life I would discover how many sources Fraser pulled from for her excellent YA retelling of Robin Hood. The ballads, of course, and Walter Scott, even scenes from the Errol Flynn film — she worked it all in. As a kid, I was sure that I’d come upon the absolutely authoritative version of the tale.
The copy I read as a kid was illustrated by the author’s thirteen year old daughter. Even the cover was her work. That was really an excellent touch, I think, to top off an already great YA book.
February 20, 2010
This was a surprising find. Antonia Fraser is well known today for her well researched biographies of 16th and 17th century British royalty – so it was quite unexpected to find she had written a fanciful version of the Robin Hood legend back in the early 1970’s.
Fraser’s Robin Hood borrows heavily from previous ballads, plays, and movies, which gives all of her plot threads a familiar tred to them, with a lot of the action taken directly from the old ballads, and a grand feast scene stolen directly from the Errol Flynn version.
Also, she takes the Norman versus Saxon feud last seen in Ivanhoe and takes it to a ridiculous nth degree, to the point where hardly a page goes by without characters yelling “Saxon!” or “Norman!” at each other in derisive tones.
So, setting and plot are pretty familiar, but her take on the characters comes off as a bit more original, both the usual suspects, and the ones she made up.
Neither the outlaws nor the bad guys are particularly bright, even for characters written in broad strokes for a young audience – both sides fall for each other’s disguise and tricks with alarmingly regularity. There’s one scene that had me in a fit of giggles as Much the Miller dressed in drag and managed to pass himself off as a kitchen maid. However, the bad guys pick up on Robin’s vulnerably pretty quick:
“You say this Robin Hood is supposed to assist those in distress? Then we shall provide him someone in distress to assist.”
The line made me laugh, but its not a bad plan, actually, although, from a lineup of ladies-in-waiting hanging around the castle, they unfortunately chose Marian as bait for a trap, who, as usual when bait can think and objects to being on a hock, Marian manages to undo their plans, and still remain above suspicion as being a sympathizer to the outlaws. Marian living in the castle and feeding information to Robin is old ground, but works well here.
There are several women characters in the book, despite the fact the story takes place before the “action-girl” rose to prominence in fiction. Here all of the female characters share a trait of presenting very convincing false faces to those they wish to trick, using their “feminine wiles” for both Good and Evil. They have a wide spectrum of intelligence, from cool headed pragmatism to utter bird brains.
When a kitchen maid starts having hysterics upon learning she’s in the presence of an outlaw, Much literally rolls his eyes and mutters “God give me patience!” Which I think should be the new standard for when damsels go all distressed. She then goes on to calm down when she realizes that most of the outlaws are, like, OMG, sooo hot, and congratulates herself on getting kidnapped. The female characters in this retelling simper and giggle and cry a lot, but there’s a definite spark there of the liberated female character to come in later versions.
Robin Hood is called out several times for his impetuousness, mostly by Will Scarlet, who is called out right the brains of the operation. Robin is almost a charismatic figure head used only to rally people while Will is the one who manages to come up with the cool headed plans that keeps (mostly) everyone alive. However, Robin shows a strength for coming up with plans on the fly, and even manages to do his own rescues once in a while.
The ending borrows again from Ivanhoe with the king in disguise helping the outlaws take Nottingham, but it’s not a happily-ever-after kind of tale…
Also, the book contains numerous illustrations, some in color and some in pencil, all done by the author’s daughter at age 13. The illustrations are what you would expect from an untrained teenager, but have a certain charm to them
Fraser’s Robin Hood borrows heavily from previous ballads, plays, and movies, which gives all of her plot threads a familiar tred to them, with a lot of the action taken directly from the old ballads, and a grand feast scene stolen directly from the Errol Flynn version.
Also, she takes the Norman versus Saxon feud last seen in Ivanhoe and takes it to a ridiculous nth degree, to the point where hardly a page goes by without characters yelling “Saxon!” or “Norman!” at each other in derisive tones.
So, setting and plot are pretty familiar, but her take on the characters comes off as a bit more original, both the usual suspects, and the ones she made up.
Neither the outlaws nor the bad guys are particularly bright, even for characters written in broad strokes for a young audience – both sides fall for each other’s disguise and tricks with alarmingly regularity. There’s one scene that had me in a fit of giggles as Much the Miller dressed in drag and managed to pass himself off as a kitchen maid. However, the bad guys pick up on Robin’s vulnerably pretty quick:
“You say this Robin Hood is supposed to assist those in distress? Then we shall provide him someone in distress to assist.”
The line made me laugh, but its not a bad plan, actually, although, from a lineup of ladies-in-waiting hanging around the castle, they unfortunately chose Marian as bait for a trap, who, as usual when bait can think and objects to being on a hock, Marian manages to undo their plans, and still remain above suspicion as being a sympathizer to the outlaws. Marian living in the castle and feeding information to Robin is old ground, but works well here.
There are several women characters in the book, despite the fact the story takes place before the “action-girl” rose to prominence in fiction. Here all of the female characters share a trait of presenting very convincing false faces to those they wish to trick, using their “feminine wiles” for both Good and Evil. They have a wide spectrum of intelligence, from cool headed pragmatism to utter bird brains.
When a kitchen maid starts having hysterics upon learning she’s in the presence of an outlaw, Much literally rolls his eyes and mutters “God give me patience!” Which I think should be the new standard for when damsels go all distressed. She then goes on to calm down when she realizes that most of the outlaws are, like, OMG, sooo hot, and congratulates herself on getting kidnapped. The female characters in this retelling simper and giggle and cry a lot, but there’s a definite spark there of the liberated female character to come in later versions.
Robin Hood is called out several times for his impetuousness, mostly by Will Scarlet, who is called out right the brains of the operation. Robin is almost a charismatic figure head used only to rally people while Will is the one who manages to come up with the cool headed plans that keeps (mostly) everyone alive. However, Robin shows a strength for coming up with plans on the fly, and even manages to do his own rescues once in a while.
The ending borrows again from Ivanhoe with the king in disguise helping the outlaws take Nottingham, but it’s not a happily-ever-after kind of tale…
Also, the book contains numerous illustrations, some in color and some in pencil, all done by the author’s daughter at age 13. The illustrations are what you would expect from an untrained teenager, but have a certain charm to them
July 15, 2018
Actually closer to three stars, but bumping it up because ROBIN HOOD. Will Scarlet was the BEST in this book. Basically the mom of the group.
June 7, 2022
Debo decir que esta versión es la que más me ha gustado de las cuatro que he leído/escuchado, aunque no me gusto ese instalove entre Marian y Robin, pero fuera de eso, fue una muy buena historia :D
Want to read
May 28, 2023On hiatus until I got Al of the NG books that were approved have been read. The one time I got every single one when all I was doing was wishful shopping because this never happens and BAM got them all
I’m a tad upset though that some of the books expire nowadays.
I’m a tad upset though that some of the books expire nowadays.
June 23, 2025
I remember rereading this consistently as a child; sadly, revisiting it as an adult lost a small bit of the magical charm of the stories.
July 20, 2022
Ik ben een Robin Hood fan en ik was erg benieuwd naar deze versie. Het is duidelijk een jeugdboek die langer geleden geschreven is. Ik vond het zeker vermakelijk. Veel verhalen zijn herkenbaar, leuk dat de diverse avonturen hier gebundeld zijn. Ik heb de Nederlandse vertaling gelezen.
January 31, 2018
Review link in bio!!!
October 21, 2021
Everyone should read and learn from this book multiple times.
March 17, 2015
Antonia Fraser's retelling of Robin Hood features all the well-known characters: Robin himself, Maid Marian, Little John, Alan A Dale, Will Scarlett, Friar Tuck and of course the bad guys, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John. But there are also lesser-known characters as well: Dickon Barleycorn, originally a soldier of the Sheriff's but eventually a convert to Robin's side; the evil Walter of Weybridge, Guy of Gisborne, Oswald Montdragon and, baddest of all, Black Barbara. The adventures of Robin and his men are well told, and the division between the Saxons and the Normans is well covered; Lady Fraser is an historian, after all! This book, first published in 1955, is meant for children, perhaps especially the 9-12 age bracket, and it may well engender in some of those children an interest in history, which is never a bad thing. Recommended.
October 28, 2015
I read a book by Antonia Fraser, about the Tudors, and hated it. But I LOVED this!
It's so good to find a rich, very exciting version of Robin Hood, packed with action, romance and adventure, and lots of it. And I loved how she gave the spotlight to a lot of his gang as well, and not just mainly on him. I felt as if I really understood them.
Marian was a bit flat, as was Robin, but I was really pleased with her take on the other characters, especially Will Scarlett and Allan a dale (my two favourite characters of the RH legends, anyway).
I've been thinking about writing my own retelling of RH, and this has given me the inspiration I need.
It's so good to find a rich, very exciting version of Robin Hood, packed with action, romance and adventure, and lots of it. And I loved how she gave the spotlight to a lot of his gang as well, and not just mainly on him. I felt as if I really understood them.
Marian was a bit flat, as was Robin, but I was really pleased with her take on the other characters, especially Will Scarlett and Allan a dale (my two favourite characters of the RH legends, anyway).
I've been thinking about writing my own retelling of RH, and this has given me the inspiration I need.
July 10, 2014
I'm not sure what it is about this book, it's probably the author's skill at writing, but whenever I come back to re-read this book I'm always carried away with the emotions portrayed, especially in the last few chapters.
April 25, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. Robin Hood is a story we all know. the only thing that I found fault with was the chapter titles as they gave away what is happening "Maid Marion is Rescued", I found I could not put the book down.great little read.
July 28, 2014
1/2 star!
Zounds! Verily, this would have to be one of the worst versions of RH I have read, I trow.
Zounds! Verily, this would have to be one of the worst versions of RH I have read, I trow.
September 13, 2015
Really enjoyed this version - Antonia Fraser's daughters illustrations were delightful.
November 5, 2013
This story was very interesting!
I love this story!
I love this story!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews