Eleanor of Aquitaine: Medieval Queen (European Queens)

Grade 7 Up–This biography begins promisingly with a delineation of Eleanor's character and a clear setting of the scene (both in time and place). However, by the midway point, the text turns into a sometimes confusing recitation of events. There are numerous errors, misspellings, and omissions; the maps are woefully inadequate (two antique reproductions are impossible to decipher, while the one modern map is incomplete). The same 19th-century, romanticized portrait of Eleanor appears twice in the book as well as on the cover. Sapet repeatedly uses Catholic terminology without definition (Virgin Mary, abbot, cardinals, martyr, mass, atone, penance, papal decree, defrocked). No teen biography of Eleanor to date can compare with Polly Schoyer Brooks's superbly written Queen Eleanor: Independent Spirit of the Medieval World (Houghton, 1999).