In "The Three Edwards," Thomas B. Costain continues his history of England since the Norman Conquest (The Pageant of England: "The Conquerors," "The Magnificent Century") The volume deals with a turbulent reach of human experience, stretching from the thirteenth century of iron-fisted Edward I, law-giver and conqueror, when French was still the language of law-court and great hall, to the restless unhappy close of the reign of Edward III….

To a popular historian like Mr. Costain, the period offers a wonderful story and barbed personalities: the romantic struggles of Wallace and Robert the Bruce, the inept life and horrible death of Edward II, the victories of Crécy and Poitiers, the visitation of the Black Death; and, beneath this brave outward show, the tides of social and intellectual change.

With such material, which Mr. Costain develops with an eye to entertaining fact, "The Three Edwards" will doubtless please...