Briefly Noted

Deus Lo Volt

Evan S. Connell (Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 2000) 462 pp., $28.00

The author of a best-selling history of Custer’s last stand (Son of Morning Star) and the highly acclaimed novels Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge, Evan. S. Connell is known for his thoughtful, meticulously researched portraits of American life. Now he brings his talents to bear on more distant terrain: the medieval Crusades. Drawing on hundreds of primary sources, Connell has created a “lost chronicle,” written by the real-life 12th-century French nobleman Jean de Joinville. Tracing the 200 years of Crusader history, this saga brings to life some famous personalities (like Frederick Barbarossa) and historical events (like the capture of Jerusalem). The book is fast-paced, highly readable and historically accurate. Connell’s greatest accomplishment, though, is his systematic re-creation of the medieval voice—a kind of historical ventriloquism that makes the past palpable.

Eye of Horus