Ivanhoe is the one novel by Sir Walter Scott which most people are most likely to be able to name, but, as these random comments suggest, it has had a mixed reception among those who have read it or merely encountered its reputation. Certainly, for a time during the twentieth century when Scott's popular (and academic) reputation was at a fairly low ebb, the novel's currency was sustained by the supposition that, as a tale of knights and wicked barons with a bit of Robin Hood and his Merry Men thrown in, it was qualified to engage the attention of younger male readers. ...

Set in the reign of Richard 1, Coeur de Lion, lvanhoe is packed with memorable incidents - sieges, ambushes and combats - and equally memorable characters:Cedric of Rotherwood, the die-hard Saxon; his ward Rowena; the fierce Templar knight, Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert; the Jew, Isaac of York, and his beautiful,spirited daughter Rebecca; Wamba and Gurth, jester and swineherd respectively.

Scott explores the conflicts between the Crown and the powerful Barons, between the Norman overlords and the conquered Saxons, and between Richard and his scheming brother, Prince John. At the same time he brings into the novel the legendary Robin Hood and his band, and creates a brilliant, colourful account of the age of chivalry with all its elaborate rituals and costumes and its values of honour and personal glory.