Hilaire Belloc was born near Paris in 1870 and raised in England, though he remained a French citizen until 1902. He attended Balliol College in Oxford. His most famous works were his humorous morality poems and cautionary tales for children. After the loss of his son in World War I he wrote a series of historical biographies and religious texts, reaffirming his Roman Catholic faith. He died in 1953.
A tale of chivalry and doomed, transcendent love. The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is one of the most resonant works of Western literature, as well as the basis for our enduring idea of romance. The story of the Cornish knight and the Irish princess who meet by deception, fall in love by magic, and pursue that love in defiance of heavenly and earthly law has inspired artists from Matthew Arnold to Richard Wagner. But nowhere has it been retold with greater eloquence and dignity than in Joseph Bedier's edition, which weaves several medieval sources into a seamless whole, elegantly translated by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld.
"A powerful rendition, an incomparable tale."
-- The New York Times
"Definitely a book to preserve and cherish." -- Chicago Sun