Customer Reviews

Saint Joan of Arc

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This exciting biography manages to bring to life the mood of 14th Century France and to give a vivid portrait of "the Maid" from contemporary accounts, which are always clearly credited.

Beevers achieves this without missing the point of Joan's canonisation, so often misconstrued as being due to patriotism or even to some kind of early feminist or anti-establishment streak, with which some always try to retrospectively credit her.

After a simple account of what we know of her family life, and riveting detail in the battles and her attempts to reach the Dauphin, Beevers gives an accurate and crystal-clear historical summary of her trials, including much excellent background on the personalities involved.

This book makes a wonderful spiritual and historical gift for a teenager, and is scholarly, highly readable and inspiring. It is the perfect choice for those who seek Joan's true story without any ideological trimmings.

I'm a woman and I'm all for female heroines, but so many of Joan's biographers err on the side of feminism. John Beevers does not. He shows her as a real, solid, Christ-centered young lady who led a nation in a time of peril. She was called for a specific purpose and this book gives the most realistic, unfabricated version of her life. One of the best biographies I have ever read. I couldn't put it down!

Start your jouney into the life and times of St. Joan with this easy-to-digest book by John Beevers!

This book tells of the life of a pious Catholic teenage peasant girl who defeated the occupying English forces in France in less than 2 years. She saved her country and gave it hope beyond measure, crowned her forgotten king, freed France from the English, and was sadly repaid with death by fire. I wonder if St. Joan still haunts the English and the grounds at Rouen?

St. Joan died for a useless king that didn't even bother to save her after she was captured by the English! A sad and tragic tale of a heroine who was betrayed and let down by her own people. Rescue attempts came too late. Reminds you of Jesus. He had thousands of cheering followers one day before and when he rode into Jerusalem, but by the time he got crucified, he hardly had anyone by his side (save for his mother and one disciple) when he died on the cross. One cannot help but see the similarities in this case of St. Joan of Arc.

Too bad the French have forgotten their national patron saint these days!
Looks like St. Joan is honored and remembered more outside France, than in France today.