The Iron King

1. The Tolomei Bank (#litres_trial_promo)

2. The Road to London (#litres_trial_promo)

3. At Westminster (#litres_trial_promo)

4. The Debt (#litres_trial_promo)

5. The Road to Neauphle (#litres_trial_promo)

6. The Road to Clermont (#litres_trial_promo)

7. Like Father, Like Daughter (#litres_trial_promo)

8. Mahaut of Burgundy (#litres_trial_promo)

9. The Blood Royal (#litres_trial_promo)

10. The Judgment (#litres_trial_promo)

11. The Place du Martrai (#litres_trial_promo)

12. The Horseman in the Dusk (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three: The Hand of God (#litres_trial_promo)

1. The Rue des Bourdonnais (#litres_trial_promo)

2. The Tribunal of the Shadows (#litres_trial_promo)

3. The Documents of a Reign (#litres_trial_promo)

4. The King’s Summer (#litres_trial_promo)

5. Power and Money (#litres_trial_promo)

6. Tolomei Wins (#litres_trial_promo)

7. Guccio’s Secrets (#litres_trial_promo)

8. The Meet at Pont-Sainte-Maxence (#litres_trial_promo)

9. A Great Shadow over the Kingdom (#litres_trial_promo)

The Strangled Queen,Book Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Footnote (#litres_trial_promo)

Author’s Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Historical Notes (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Maurice Druon (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Foreword (#ulink_3342207b-729f-5a7c-9a47-ad22628a7dce)

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN (#ulink_3342207b-729f-5a7c-9a47-ad22628a7dce)

Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, as historical fiction about history that never happened, flavoured with a dash of sorcery and spiced with dragons. I take that as a compliment. I have always regarded historical fiction and fantasy as sisters under the skin, two genres separated at birth. My own series draws on both traditions … and while I undoubtedly drew much of my inspiration from Tolkien, Vance, Howard, and the other fantasists who came before me, A Game of Thrones and its sequels were also influenced by the works of great historical novelists like Thomas B. Costain, Mika Waltari, Howard Pyle … and Maurice Druon, the amazing French writer who gave us the The Accursed Kings, seven splendid novels that chronicle the downfall of the Capetian kings and the beginnings of the Hundred Years War.

Druon’s novels have not been easy to find, especially in English translation (and the seventh and final volume was never translated into English at all). The series has twice been made into a television series in France, and both versions are available on DVD … but only in French, undubbed, and without English subtitles. Very frustrating for English-speaking Druon fans like me.

The Accursed Kings has it all. Iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies and lust, deception, family rivalries, the curse of the Templars, babies switched at birth, she-wolves, sin, and swords, the doom of a great dynasty … and all of it (well, most of it) straight from the pages of history. And believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets.

Whether you’re a history buff or a fantasy fan, Druon’s epic will keep you turning pages. This was the original game of thrones. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire, you will love The Accursed Kings.

George R.R. Martin

The Characters in this Book (#ulink_84ed4ddd-cae0-5274-92cb-83a27eac6185)

THE KING OF FRANCE:

PHILIP IV, called Philip the Fair, aged 46, grandson of Saint Louis.

HIS BROTHERS:

MONSEIGNEUR CHARLES, Count of Valois, Titular Emperor of Constantinople, Count of Romagna, aged 44.

MONSEIGNEUR LOUIS, Count of Evreux, about 40 years old.

HIS SONS:

LOUIS, King of Navarre, aged 25.

PHILIPPE, COUNT of Poitiers, aged 21.

CHARLES, aged 20.

HIS DAUGHTER:

ISABELLA, Queen of England, aged 22, wife of King Edward II.

HIS DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW:

MARGUERITE OF BURGUNDY, aged about 21, wife of Louis, daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, granddaughter of Saint Louis.

JEANNE OF BURGUNDY, aged about 21, daughter of the Count Palatine of Burgundy, wife to Philippe.