Selected Reviews and Endorsements:

 “James Burge opens up this tale with sympathy and directness … beautifully explained” (Frances Spalding (Critics' Choice), Daily Mail)

“If ever scholarship could be called delectable, it is here in James Burge's sympathetic and thorough account of the immortal, illicit French lovers, Heloise and Abelard, pursuing through turmoil and ecstasy their intellectual and passionate course, risking all, losing all. Standing under the arches of any Gothic abbey or church in France will never be the same for me--I will hear their whispers.” (Susan Vreeland)

     “The two lovers are as vivid as one could wish … Burge achieves something truly difficult: he reminds us that, for Abelard and Heloise, their world was as new, risky and unpredictable as ours is, and every day as fresh with possibilities.” (Ann Wroe , Sunday Times)

 “A genial new account of the story ... In the end it is Heloise who most wrings our heart not only because of her honesty, her refusal to lay any balm of comfort to her breast, but also because of her refusal to be patronised, denied or denigrated” (Guardian)

 “He retells this love story in a vigorous style which reads as easily as a novel ...  an enjoyable introduction to one of the most dramatic of all medieval stories” (Benedicta Ward, The Tablet)

 “What  comes through to us in this enthusiastically researched account is not an iconic representation of human love but a breath of individual striving, dissent and sexuality to which we can respond today ... a substantial achievement .” (Gillian Tindall, Times Literary Supplement)

“Intelligent, clearly written ... lucid and perceptive” (Murrough O'Brien, Independent)

“The story of Abelard and Heloise remains the mother of all love stories: intensely passionate, erotic and tragic. Burge's fascinating account, enriched by a trove of intriguing new letters, brings to life that timeless story with such precision and feeling that we have never before felt so close to A & H, nor perhaps so fully understood their modernity.” (Andrea di Robilant)

 “James Burge's book achieves that ideal of contemporary popular history, making the past seem pertinent whilst revelling in its differences.  .... Burge is excellent at empathy. He keeps you alive to the agony of Abelard ... [and] makes a moving, likeable document of an extraordinary love.” (Alice Ferrebe, Scotland on Sunday)

 “Burge’s account is straightforward, lucid, detailed and sympathetic ... brings considerable historical acumen to the task of placing the story in its context” (A C Grayling, Literary Review)

  “In this story as romantic and dark as Romeo and Juliet, Burge brings these famous lovers to us in all their robustness and life. Heloise and Abelard captures the mindset of their age - so much so that you feel immersed in it. It is deeply satisfying to come to know this pair, even at a distance of nine centuries. An impressive feat.” (Margaret George)