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The Eagle and the Hart
The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV | Helen Castor
6 posts | 4 read | 2 reading | 3 to read
From an acclaimed historian and author comes an epic history: the dual biography of Richard II and Henry IV, two cousins whose lives played out in extraordinary parallel, until Henry deposed the tyrant Richard and declared himself King of England. Richard of Bordeaux and Henry of Bolingbroke, cousins born just three months apart, were ten years old when Richard became king of England. They were thirty-two when Henry deposed him and became king in his place. Now, the story behind one of the strangest and most fateful events in English history (and the inspiration behind Shakespeares most celebrated history plays) is brought to vivid life by the acclaimed author of Blood and Roses, Helen Castor. Richard had birthright on his side, and a profound belief in his own God-given majesty. But beyond that, he lacked all qualities of leadership. A narcissist who did not understand or accept the principles that underpinned his rule, he was neither a warrior defending his kingdom, nor a lawgiver whose justice protected his people. Instead, he declared that his laws were in his own mouth, and acted accordingly. He sought to define as treason any resistance to his will and recruited a private army loyal to himself rather than the realmand he intended to destroy those who tried to restrain him. Henry was everything Richard was not: a leader who inspired both loyalty and friendship, a soldier and a chivalric hero, dutiful, responsible, principled. After years of tension and conflict, Richard banished him and seized his vast inheritance. Richard had been crowned a king but he had become a tyrant, and as a tyrantruling by arbitrary will rather than established lawhe was deposed by his cousin Henry, the only possible candidate to take his place. Henry was welcomed as a liberator, a champion of the people against his predecessors paranoid despotism. But within months he too was facing rebellion. Men knew that a deposer could in turn be deposed, and the new king found himself buffeted by unrest and by chronic ill-health until he seemed a shadow of his former self, trapped by political uncertainty and troubled by these signs that God might not, after all, endorse his actions. Captivating, immersive, and highly relevant to todays times, The Eagle and the Hart is a story about what happens when a ruler prioritizes power over the interests of his own people. When a ruler demands loyalty to himself as an individual, rather than duty to the established constitution, and when he seeks to reshape reality rather than concede the force of verifiable truths. Above all, it is a story about how a nation was brought to the brink of catastrophe and disintegrationand, in the end, how it was brought back.
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Hooked_on_books
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While listening to this one, I put together this kit and just had to show it to you all. I think it came out great!

PaperbackPirate So cool! 😍 5d
TheBookHippie Love!!!! 5d
Ruthiella Really neat! 🤩 5d
See All 8 Comments
squirrelbrain Lovely! ❤️ 5d
Soubhiville So cute 💚 4d
AmyG Love it! 4d
Deblovestoread ❤️❤️❤️ 4d
Bookzombie That‘s so cute!! 1d
52 likes8 comments
review
Hooked_on_books
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Mehso-so

I have mixed feelings about this one. I do think it‘s well written, but I also know I am not the audience for it. I knew nothing about these men and felt some sort of prior knowledge was imperative to fully enjoying this book. I never would have made it through the print; the audio was well done.

squirrelbrain I agree completely- it was rather slow and the actual ‘battle for the crown‘ was only a few pages. Not my favourite from the list. 6d
RamsFan1963 If you're interested in this era of English history, I'd recommend trying Henry V by Dan Jones. He starts the book with background of the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, before moving on to Henry V. 6d
Hooked_on_books @RamsFan1963 Thanks! I‘ll have to look for that. 5d
52 likes3 comments
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Graywacke
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My new audiobook - and my second from the 2025 Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction. Lots of Shakespeare in the introduction 🥰

merelybookish I just started this! 1w
Graywacke @merelybookish I‘m 2.5 hours in (12%), and fascinated (edited) 1w
merelybookish How's it going? I'm about halfway through. I am enjoying it and amazed I'm mostly keeping everyone straight. 22h
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Graywacke @merelybookish i‘m 6 hours in and constantly fascinated. The nature of power, the way everyone plays this game, it‘s crazy and so much looser than I realized. 22h
merelybookish @Graywacke Yeah, I was skeptical in her intro when she said there are parallels to today. But you can see how there can be very different visions of power and different avenues can be taken to secure it. I feel like that is playing out before our eyes. 22h
Graywacke @merelybookish I‘m still thinking about that. It‘s different. But the undermining of norms for power and with destructive intent are striking parallels. The indifference to human life is so strange. 22h
37 likes6 comments
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squirrelbrain
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Rather relevant, timely and apposite introduction to this book about Richard II and Henry IV (who were both born in 1367)!

ChaoticMissAdventures I am excited for this one, I don't know a ton about this time period. 1mo
Leftcoastzen Wow 1mo
Lcsmcat Wow indeed. 1mo
See All 10 Comments
LeahBergen Yikes! 1mo
Librarybelle Yup. Very, very relevant. 1mo
TrishB Power never changes. 1mo
bookandbedandtea How apropos 😫 1mo
CarolynM 😢 1mo
youneverarrived Wow. Very relevant 😩 1mo
sarahbarnes Oh wow. 1mo
54 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
jenniferw88
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Panpan

#wpnf25

I should have waited for the shortlist and hibernated this book. I'd be very surprised if it makes it, as I really struggled with it and could have bailed on it if it hadn't made it.

#atozultimatechallenge #c #authorsurname #e #booktitle #f #birdonthecover #h #itemoncover (hart) @AudiobookingWithLeah

#aty25 #animalvegetableormineralinthetitle @BarbaraBB

Librarybelle Oh dear! I had recently splurged and picked up a copy on the strength of a virtual author talk I saw her do. 1mo
jenniferw88 @Librarybelle, you may like it! I just know very little about this period, and it was very heavy going. Shorter chapters may have helped. 1mo
RamsFan1963 I wanted to read this, but I've seen a lot of negative reviews. If you want to know more about Henry IV, I'd recommend reading Dan Jones's Henry V. It covers the end of Richard II reign, Henry IV seizing the throne, and leads on into Henry V reign as king. 1mo
youneverarrived Hmm, good to know. It does look heavy going and it‘s more of a chunkster than I realised. Think I‘ll concentrate on the others before this. 1mo
43 likes4 comments
review
rockpools
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Bailedbailed

I tried, I really did. For the right reader, this would be fantastic.

But I don‘t get on great with ‘Kings & Queens history‘. Sadly this was‘t the book to convince me otherwise. (Social history, great! Kings, Queens, dates & power machinations - no). I got through 4 hours of it. There were 16 more go. Obviously it‘s not my thing, but I don‘t see what makes it uniquely prizeworthy. So I‘m bailing.

I did learn who Wat Tyler was, so there is that!

squirrelbrain Hmmm, I‘m not that keen on Kings and Queens history either…. I have this from the library so we‘ll see…. 1mo
rockpools @squirrelbrain I tried on audio. Might be easier to zim through (and keep track of names) in print. And it was fine - I just didn‘t care enough to power through. One of the things I loved last from last years prize was that a lot of the books *made* me care even if I wasn‘t naturally that interested. This didn‘t get me over that hurdle. Good luck - hope it works for you! 1mo
45 likes2 comments