The fame of the Black Prince has stood for six centuries; his name remains one that moves the hearts of Englishmen. The secret of such enduring reputation lies in his personal character and demonstrates in him an unusual rare quality impressive to his contemporaries and to posterity. As no other figure in our history he symbolizes the finer side of the Middle Ages: chivalry, desperate courage, true love, and a debonair liberality so greatly admired in his day as largesse. A national hero among a troop of heroes, his figure dominates those of the chosen knights who were his mentors and his brothers in arms. - Preface.