Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe: Newly Adapted for the Modern Reader by David Purdie - Hardcover

A curious exemplification of the power of a single book for good or harm is shown in the effects wrought by Don Quixote and those wrought by Ivanhoe. The first swept the world's admiration for the meiaeval chivalry-silliness out of existence; and the other restored it. - MARK TWAIN [Ivanhoe] may have been badly wounded in combat - only to recover and save the day - but he has never been sliced up like this. - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY This is exactly what is needed in order to rescue Sir Walter Scott. - ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH I applaud this new, shorter version of Ivanhoe which makes this wonderful novel, once so popular, accessible to a new generation of readers who will be able to enjoy its classic blend of history and romance. - PROFESSOR GRAHAM TULLOCH, Editor of the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley novels Professor David Purdie's meticulous adaption has made Sir Walter Scott's classic much more accessible to the modern reader... Purdie has managed to conserve Scott's masterly evocation of the 'sights, colours and sounds' of the Middle Ages. - EDINBURGH LIFE David Purdie's inspired reworking of its complex characters, romance and high drama is an engrossing page-turner. - SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS Ivanhoe re-emerges alive for the modern age. - SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS

A special hardback edition of David Purdie's controversial adaptation of Scott's classic historical novel. Ivanhoe follows Wilfred of Ivanhoe, part of one of the few Saxon families at a time when English nobility was dominated by the Normans, who is out of favour with his father for his allegiance to the Norman king, Richard the Lionheart. The gripping storyline beautifully captures the 12th century tensions between Saxons and Normans, Nobility and Commonality and Jews and Gentiles, with a whole host of well-known characters from Robin Hood to Friar Tuck.