Helen Castor: The Eagle and the Hart

The lives of Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke were interlinked – first cousins and side by side at Richard’s coronation. Yet they grew up to be opposites – a thin-skinned narcissist inspiring fear among his followers and a chivalric hero followed out of loyalty. This is the story of their relationship, encompassing a struggle for power, masculinity in crisis and a nation brought to catastrophe.

Helen Castor is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow Commoner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her books include "Blood and Roses" and "She-Wolves: The Women who ruled England before Elizabeth".