The Gauntlet

Ronald Welch



Peter Staunton, wandering one afternoon near a ruined castle on the Welsh border, stumbles across a rusted metal gauntlet and slips it on. Falling asleep, he wakes up in the 14th Century, when his Norman ancestors hold the castle, and he is the son of Roger de Blois, the Lord of the Castle, and in the middle of the Welsh border wars. This book contains a tremendous amount of information about day-to-day castle living, tournaments, and history, presented in a very engaging style, as Peter tries to understand what has happened to him and comes to a realization that native wit, grace and character matter a lot more than anything he knows from his native time.

While this book doesn't have a lot to do with sailing, I guarantee it will fascinate youngsters interested in adventure and history, and particularly those interested in the Middle Ages. The author's depiction of castle life, and of the attitudes of the Normans and Welsh of the period, are both real and realistic. I have no idea if the book is readily available any more; I read it many years ago, and stumbled upon a copy in a bookstore years later. But it's worth the search!

Reviewed by Dave Thewlis, February, 2002



This article is ©2002 by David C. Thewlis, and posted on All Things Ransome with permission.

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