What do you think?
Rate this book
Tournament
Set in the brilliant, dying world of late-medieval chivalry. I have always been interested in the Middle Ages, but never remember, in a modern novel, feeling their essence to have been so brilliantly captured."" - Mary Renault. ""The entire novel is brilliant."" - The Washington Post.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1984
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Peter Vansittart
55 books10 followersPeter Vansittart was a master of the historical novel and a writer of outstanding talent. He wrote more than 40 books, which also encompassed anthologies, works on literature and social history.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 14, 2018
This book is a masterpiece that no one (including myself) seems to have heard of.
The plot is simple: the Duke of an unnamed Duchy challenges the Prince of Utrecht to a duel after the latter steals his son’s betrothed. Duke Simon is struggling with his identity as he teeters on the edge of middle age; his son and heir is dissolute and irresponsible; a gulf has opened between him and his once-beloved elusive wife. Meanwhile, the Black Death is slowly approaching and the long awaited duel comes to represent the culmination of Duke’s life’s work; Prince Rainault, though never appearing in the flesh haunts the pages and characters with an increasingly dark shadow.
Not much happens, but the prose is rich and glorious. This is very much a book of the Middle Ages, about the decay of an age.
“Christendom was on the verge of new lives, new sounds, new treasons, new distances: these guns would speak and, like the Crucified, draw all men after them...”
The plot is simple: the Duke of an unnamed Duchy challenges the Prince of Utrecht to a duel after the latter steals his son’s betrothed. Duke Simon is struggling with his identity as he teeters on the edge of middle age; his son and heir is dissolute and irresponsible; a gulf has opened between him and his once-beloved elusive wife. Meanwhile, the Black Death is slowly approaching and the long awaited duel comes to represent the culmination of Duke’s life’s work; Prince Rainault, though never appearing in the flesh haunts the pages and characters with an increasingly dark shadow.
Not much happens, but the prose is rich and glorious. This is very much a book of the Middle Ages, about the decay of an age.
“Christendom was on the verge of new lives, new sounds, new treasons, new distances: these guns would speak and, like the Crucified, draw all men after them...”
Displaying 1 of 1 review