In an article for The Bookseller in 2011, former prime minister Tony Blair explains why Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott was one of his desert island books.

“It was my old housemaster at school, Eric Anderson, who went on to become headmaster at Eton, who introduced Sir Walter Scott to me. I was resistant at first. His novels can take time to engage you. The language and descriptions are in a style far from the staccato bluntness of today’s writers but the reader should persevere – it’s worth it.

Once hooked, you realise these are the words of genius. Ivanhoe is actually the most readable Scott novel, a fabulous adventure, love story and moral tale. It is set in the time of Richard the Lionheart, when there was a battle still raging between Saxons and Normans. There are jousts and tournaments, fights and action to satisfy those wanting a thriller but its depth is revealed in the love triangle of Ivanhoe, Rowena, the Saxon princess, and Rebecca, the beautiful Jewess. Read it and see if, like me, you are sure he should have defied convention and eloped with Rebecca!”