Readers who enjoyed "The Black Rose," "The Silver Chalice," and the half-dozen other historical novels Mr. Costain has written …, will find "Below the Salt" equally diverting. It has somewhat less zest and humor than its predecessors and somber overtones prevail throughout most of the story. But it combines all the popular ingredients of a medieval romance….

The research Mr. Costain undertook … has given him an intimate understanding of English society in the age of the Angevin kings. His scenes, including the signing of the Magna Charta, have an authentic air, and so have the historical characters he introduces….

Perhaps because his main plot has inherent limitations, being largely a narrative of frustrations and dreams before the dawn. Costain has framed it in a secondary plot with modern characters. The device whereby he links a thirteenth-century theme with its twentieth-century reprise strains credulity, but the overall effect is fanciful...