Ivanhoe: A Romance

England, 1194: King Richard the Lionheart is a prisoner abroad, his brother Prince John rules, and the Norman lords oppress the Saxons. Wilfred of Ivanhoe, disinherited by his Saxon father for following Richard on Crusade, returns in disguise and fights in a great tournament. Around him gather the outlaw Robin of Locksley, a mysterious Black Knight, the Saxon princess Rowena and the brave Rebecca, daughter of the Jewish moneylender Isaac of York.

Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), the Scottish poet and lawyer often called the father of the historical novel, published Ivanhoe in 1819, and it shaped the popular image of the Middle Ages for a century. Its portrait of Rebecca and the prejudice she faces is the moral heart of the book. Arab readers may also seek out Scott's The Talisman, which shows Saladin as a wise and noble ruler.