'It is a strange and terrible thing to listen to one's own funeral service...'

The year is 1290: sixteen year-old Robin of Westwood has been declared a leper, and must suffer the parish priest pronouncing him dead to his village and family. But traveling back through Sherwood Forest Robin rescues a man from attack: a Jewish doctor, Solomon, who knows how to cure what ails Robin. Solomon, however, like his fellow Jews, is to be expelled from England by royal decree. But fate intervenes for Solomon - and for Robin - through a summons to meet the Queen, Eleanor of Castile, who is gravely ill and knows of only one cure. In search of same, Robin and Solomon will venture out to the Moorish Spain of Cordoba and Granada.

'Geoffrey Trease has become a classic writer for children.' Books for Children

'One of Trease's best books.' British Book News