The Critical Response

 

TIME MAGAZINE: “A real parchment turner, richly imagined and beautifully written.  The Sheriff, maligned by history and Hollywood, is shown to be a dutiful official confronting personal and moral dilemmas and the origins of constitutional government.”

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES (Herbert Mitgang): “This ‘Sheriff of Nottingham’ delivers a thinking man’s Robin Hood…an inventive and entertaining historical novel….  Judged by past achievements, no one is more entitled to rearrange facts in fiction than Mr. Kluger.”

 

WASHINGTON POST (Brian Jacomb): “It may be difficult for some to accept that one of history’s truly hated characters has been transformed into this very likeable and just figure, but in this telling of the tale, Richard Kluger completely held my attention in a most enjoyable way.”

 

PEOPLE MAGAZINE: “Kluger populates his tale with a colorful cross-section of nobles, knights, clergymen, and serfs….  The dialogue, the details and especially, the history, seem right.  So much so that we can’t wait for the movie – and for Hollywood to get it all wrong again”

 

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (Desmond Ryan): “A novel that wears its prodigious research with uncommon lightness and brings its period to life with remarkable vividness and vivacity.  The Sheriff of Nottingham is a work of genuine excellence.”

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: “A damned fine read.”

 

NEWSDAY: “Kluger shows remarkable skill in the face of [his] daunting task…a lively, vivid, informative book that nourishes like history but moves like a novel.”

 

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW: “Kluger’s portrayal of the degradation and exploitation suffered by medieval women is sensitive and affecting.  [He] has crafted an expansive, realistic picture of an age.”

 

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: “Kevin Costner wouldn’t recognize the Robin Hood that Kluger presents in…this elegant and entertaining retelling of the tale.”

 

LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Highly recommended.”

 

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “An earthy, richly textured revisionist tale.  Kluger weaves a magnificent medieval tapestry of near Chaucerian zest and complexity.”