{"product_id":"the-eagle-and-the-hart-the-tragedy-of-richard-ii-and-henry-iv","title":"The Eagle and the Hart : The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRichard of Bordeaux and Henry Bolingbroke were first cousins, born just three months apart.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTheir lives were from the beginning entwined. When they were still children, Richard was crowned King Richard II with Henry at his side, carrying the sword of state: a ten-year-old lord in the service of his ten-year-old king. Yet, as the animals on their heraldic badges showed, they grew up to be opposites: Richard was the white hart, a thin-skinned narcissist, and Henry the eagle, a chivalric hero, a leader who inspired loyalty where Richard inspired only fear.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHenry had all the qualities Richard lacked, all the qualities a sovereign needed, bar one: birth right. Increasingly threatened by his charismatic cousin, Richard became consumed by the need for total power, in a time of constant conflict, rebellions and reprisals. When he banished Henry into exile, the stage was set for a final confrontation, as the hart became the tyrant and the eagle his usurper.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHelen Castor tells this story of one of the strangest and most fateful relationships in English history. It is a story about power, and masculinity in crisis, and a nation brought to the brink of catastrophe. At its heart, it is the story of two men whose lives were played out in extraordinary parallel, to devastating effect.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bookbag Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55336303165814,"sku":"","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0525\/9857\/1159\/files\/9780241419328.jpg?v=1741094750","url":"https:\/\/bookbag.mom\/products\/the-eagle-and-the-hart-the-tragedy-of-richard-ii-and-henry-iv","provider":"Bookbag Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}