payment page
The Book of the Lion is a 2000 young adult novel by American writer Michael Cadnum, the second of his novels to be set in twelfth-century England after In a Dark Wood (1999). Situated at the intersection of historical fiction and adventure writing, The Book of the Lion tells the story of Edmund, a young English man making his way in the world. Two knights rescue Edmund from punishment as a counterfeiter before persuading him to join Richard the Lionheart's crusade in the Holy Land. In the narrative that follows, Edmund attempts to come to grips with the contradictions in human behavior, chiefly the coexistence of compassion and extreme cruelty. Edmund and his story are fictional, but Richard I's crusades were a real series of historical events. Cadnum's novel is notable for his attempt to provide a somewhat critical reading of a highly mythologized period of English history. The Book of the Lion was well received, earning a nomination for the National Book Award.
