Best Selling Books by Walter Scott

Ivanhoe is the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families at a time when the English nobility was overwhelmingly Norman. It follows the Saxon protagonist, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, who is out of favor with his father for his allegiance to the Norman king, Richard I of England. The story is set in 1194, after the failure of the Third Crusade, when many of the Crusaders were still returning to Europe. King Richard, who had been captured by the Duke of Austria on his way back, was believed to still be in the arms of his captors. The legendary Robin Hood, initially under the name of Locksley, is also a character in the story, as are his "merry men." The character that Scott gave to Robin Hood in Ivanhoe helped shape the modern notion of this figure as a cheery noble outlaw.

Ivanhoe A Romance Walter Scott - Ivanhoe, set in 12th century England, has been credited for increasing interest in romance and medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first turned men''s minds in the direction of the Middle Ages", while Carlyle and Ruskin made similar assertions of Scott''s overwhelming influence over the revival, based primarily on the publication of this novel.

Frank Osbaldistone, the son of an English merchant, tells the story of his adventures as a young man at the beginning of the 18th century, wherein he falls in love with a beautiful young woman, rides to Scotland to save his estranged father''s reputation and business, and becomes involved with the remarkable Highlander, Rob Roy MacGregor, as a Jacobite rebellion breaks out in Scotland and northern England.