Faber has acquired Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making of the English State by Caroline Burt and Richard Partington: ‘a lively, new and sweeping history of the rise of the state in Plantagenet England.’

Faber will publish Arise, England on 4 April 2024. World English Language rights were acquired by Neil Belton, formerly editorial director at Faber, from Andrew Gordon at David Higham Associates.

Dr Caroline Burt is a medieval historian and college lecturer at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Richard Partington is Senior Tutor at St John’s College, Cambridge. Arise, England is their first trade publication.

Senior commissioning editor Fiona Crosby commented:

‘Arise, England is a powerful account of the making of the English state, told through the reigns of six extraordinary medieval kings. Richard and Caroline draw on original accounts and arresting new research to examine two centuries of turbulence, conflict and crises – and provide an examination of leadership that will hold much resonance with readers today.’

Burt and Partington added:

‘We are thrilled to have the opportunity, through Faber, to speak to a wide readership about a gripping period of history which we have long researched. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the English state developed characteristics so vital and enduring that our lives today continue to rest upon them. Also resonating across the intervening years are the impact of political leadership on people’s lives, the intractability of circumstances and the dominating effects of ideology, economics, war and pandemic. The arresting characters of six remarkable kings frame and drive a universal story.’

View more history books from Faber.