‘Henry III is generally classed among the weakest and most incompetent of England’s medieval kings. Darren Baker tells a different story.’ - Michael Clanchy, author of England and Its Rulers, 1066–1307 ‘A personal and detailed narrative…bring[s] alive the glamour and personalities of thirteenth-century England.’- Huw Ridgeway, author of ‘Henry III’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ‘Enterprising, original and engaging.’ - David Carpenter, author of The Reign of King Henry III **Henry III (1207–72) reigned for 56 years, the longest-serving English monarch until the modern era.** Although knighted by William Marshal, he was no warrior king like his uncle Richard the Lionheart. He preferred to feed the poor to making war and would rather spend time with his wife and children than dally with mistresses and lord over roundtables. He sought to replace the dull projection of power imported by his Norman predecessors with a more humane and open-hearted monarchy. But his ambition led