Customer Reviews

El Cid

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El Cid begins his life's journey as the nouveau riche aristocrat, Don Rodrigo de Vivar. He is constantly snubbed by the other aristocratic families, despite being the King's greatest knight, for you see, his family was only knighted a generation before! Finally after enduring floods of insults, Don Rodrigo reaches the limits of his patience and tugs upon a rival's beard. This unseemly behavior, so tame by today's standards, dooms the Don to exile in the land of the Godless Moors. There, the epic takes off as the Don becomes known as El Cid (the Lord) after conquering the Moorish regions for the King of Castile (his approach to trying to escape his sentence of exile). A must read! (Search carefully for this book as it is out of print and is often costly, tho it need not be so.)

The book is a gem! El Cid begins his life's journey as the nouveau riche aristocrat -- Don Rodrigo de Vivar. At first, he is constantly snubbed by the older aristocratic families of Castile, despite being the King's best knight, for you see, his family was only knighted a generation before.
Finally in a fit of controlled rage, he responds to the numerous insults of a rival by tugging upon the rival's beard. This unseemly behavior, so understated by today's standards, gets him banished to the land of the Godless Moors. There the epic takes off as he conquers the Moorish regions of Spain in order to regain his standing with the King. A must read!!(But look for it on other websites - it's cheaper!)

This is the tale of an epic quest of El Cid, the Spanish war hero!

El Cid tells the story of Castilian knight Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. Born in a Medieval Spain ruled by the Moors, it tells of Rodrigo's disgrace from King Sancho's court and his tireless efforts to win the King's favor. He does this by repeatedly defeating the Moors and reclaiming territory for the crown. After ceaseless efforts, he becomes known as El Cid [or more specifically El Cid Compeador--"The Lord Master of Military Arts".]

The book is written for 'tweens and offers plentiful and colorful illustrations interwoven with large set type. This is a book that is made to be read aloud.