Men of Iron
1891
A boy whose name is a curse. A father whose honor lies in ruins. In 15th century England, after the overthrow of King Richard II, loyalty to the old crown is a crime. Myles Falworth watches his family fall from grace while still a child, and from that moment, his life becomes a single-minded pursuit: to become a knight and restore what was lost. Howard Pyle, who illustrated his own novel, paints medieval England with cinematic clarity. We see Myles grow from a privileged boy into a squire learning the hard discipline of the training yard. Every blow with sword and lance, every hour of bruising practice, moves him closer to the only thing that matters: the moment he can prove himself worthy of the name he bears. This is a book about the making of a man. It is about the weight of a father's expectations, the patience required to earn your spurs, and the question every young warrior must answer: can you live up to the ideal when the test finally comes?
