Reviews from around the world:

The Song of Giraldus

"Splendid evocation of the medieval world as seen through the consciousness of a historian of the time. . . . wonderful feeling of a vanished age, and yet with a kind of modern, almost minimalist restraint. . . . a handsome volume inside and out. . . . a very good and moving read." 
        -Robert Rosenstone, Cal Tech

"An authentic full-length portrait of 12th-13th century life, through the eyes of Giraldus Cambrensis.  Loomis finds a resounding voice for Giraldus, full of imagery and detail, giving life not only to his own trials as a political appellant to the pope, but to the entire European mise-en-scene.  Giraldus is an excellent guide and companion for this world."
       -Thomas Taylor, Kent State University

"Juggling for power with and between royal families of the day meant that arranged marriages on the one hand and murderous plotting against family members were part and parcel of the dangers of the life and time.  Richard Loomis' story vividly portrays this medieval scene.  Few people at that time lived to a ripe old age and bore witness to the sequence of changes taking place.  Fewer still were not only central to these events but recorded them.  Giraldus was one of these."
       -Robina Elis-Gruffydd, Dyfed, Wales

"Brings Gerald of Wales to life as a multifaceted person:  a man of God and the Church; an uncle who raises a nephew who betrays him; an observer of historic figures of his time as well as the ordinary people who are a part of his world; an insider to the world of the powerful yet not quite the insider he thinks he is; and a human being struggling to work through the bitterness of such huge disappointments."
       -Beth Phillips Brown, reviewer for Y Drych

"A moment in the history of earth and its people, a moment I would never have known otherwise.  I thoroughly enjoyed this perspective on Llywelyn the Great and Richard Lionheart and the Crusades.  I literally couldn't put the book down the last three days, until I couldn't keep my eyes open."
       -Elizabeth Behr, Upstate NY author

"A story that keeps on telling . . . . Listening to the lais the son of Angharad wove so exquisitely on the harp of a sentence, I actually dreamed myself into that world one evening."
       -Barbara Hoffman, Marywood University, Scranton PA

"I read it with great pleasure and admiration . . . a very plausible voice for Giraldus . . . . a vigorous prose style."
       -Joseph P. Clancy, poet and translator, Aberystwyth, Wales

"An extraordinary job of catching the sense of the times.  Giraldus really comes alive, and I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with him."
       -William Cowan, Ossining NY, publishing executive

"Timely . . . fascinating . . . I was enthralled."
       -Sima Hanish, New York NY, Hebrew school librarian