Ivanhoe

Walter Scott, 1819

Adventure The Romantics

A knight's return enters an England of rival loyalties, disputed authority and sharp divisions of rank and belief.

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Length: 44 chapters
Reading time: About 12 hr 15 min
Words: 174,924

About the book

Scott sets the story during Richard I's absence, introducing a country in which powerful nobles press their advantage. The opening landscape is full of historical associations, but the narrative soon brings those broad divisions into encounters among travellers, servants and their masters.

The novel combines the public spectacle of chivalry with the practical vulnerability of people who lack protection. Disguise and uncertain allegiance give its adventures much of their suspense, while questions of belonging run through the different communities sharing the same contested ground.

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Adventure The Romantics

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Walter Scott died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK. Includes the original epigraph, introduction, dedicatory epistle.