Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words

*Compiled and translated by Willard Trask, with an historical afterword by Sir Edward Creasy. "The details of the life of Joan of Arc forma biography which is unique among the world's biographies in one respect, " wrote Mark Twain: "it is the only story of a human life which comes to us under oath, the only one which comes to us from the witness stand." Using only material compiled from the transcripts and testimonies of St. Joan's condemnation trials, Willard Trask has arranged her words into a unique autobiography. Trask was Ford Madox Ford's personal secretary, and later a National Book Award winner and a recipient of Bollingen Foundation grants for his work in medieval and primitive poetry.

Joan of Arc, the 15th-century "Maid of Orleans" who led French forces in defense of Charles, the Dauphin, and was burned at the stake as a witch by the English authorities, has for many years been a popular figure, written about approvingly by the likes of George Bernard Shaw and Mark Twain. Trask, an independent scholar, gives us Joan in her own words, culled from the trial reports and from eyewitnesses. There are not many words, admittedly, but they are Joan's own and are thus a window into her spirit. The starkness of the words is offset by a 19th-century afterword by Sir Richard Creasy, who provides the context. Readers seeking a more complete account would do well to read Twain's Joan of Arc, recently republished by Ignatius Press. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.?Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, N.J.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.