Ivanhoe a romance / Walter Scott.

Ivanhoe is set in 12th-century England, with colourful descriptions of a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial and divisions between Jews and Christians. It 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. It has also had an important influence on popular perceptions of Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart and King John.

More than a century after the Norman Conquest, England remains a colony of foreign warlords. Prince John plots to seize his brother's crown and the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood haunts the ancient greenwood. Banished from England for seeking to marry against his father's wishes, Ivanhoe joins Richard the Lionheart on a crusade in the Holy Land. On his return, his passionate desire is to be reunited with the beautiful but forbidden lady Rowena, but he soon finds himself playing a more dangerous game as he is drawn into a bitter power struggle between the noble King Richard and his evil and scheming brother John.