Sophie Ambler

It was around half-past eight in the morning, with summer rainclouds weighing heavy in the sky, that Simon de Montfort decided to die. It was 4th August 1265 and he was about to face the royal army in the final battle of a quarrel that had raged between them for years. Outnumbered, outmanoeuvred, and certain to lose, Simon chose to fight, knowing that he could not possibly win the day. 'The Song of Simon de Montfort' is the story of this extraordinary...