Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'll give Noah Gordon one star for being able to write - not beautifully, but he can weave a story. As for his history - pah! Get this: an 11th century Anglo-Saxon named Rob J Cole. ONLY Americans use middle initials like this; Anglo Saxons certainly didn't. They didn't have surnames, unless it was something descriptive like 'The Short' or 'The Drunk', and they didn't use the Norman name Robert, let alone its very modern short form, Rob. They were called Wilfred and Alfred and Ethelbert and Oswry. So the background research is revealed as atrocious right from our first introduction to the hero. Some people may not mind this, but I am a historian and this grotesque parody of the 11th century makes me wants to chuck the book into the fireplace in disgust. Combine this with the totally improbable, snigger-worthy plot and you have a piece of anachronistic rubbish. I read this book many years ago but it lingers in my mind as one of the worst books I have ever read - and I've read some tripe in my time. There are good historical novels out there, soundly researched, well-written, empathetic to the period in which they are set. Buy those novels: support those authors. Not this one.