Henry II and the Angevin power bloc

The review turns from Eleanor's failed French marriage to the political consequences of marrying Henry of Anjou. The book presents the match as a calculated alliance rather than a love story: Henry already controls Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, while Eleanor needs a spouse strong enough to protect Aquitaine. Their union creates a power bloc from the Pyrenees to the English Channel and makes Henry the most powerful man in France. Eleanor's lands supply the decisive strategic scale, while Henry supplies immediate military protection. The same consanguinity argument used to end her first marriage remains available if Henry later wants a younger wife, revealing the insecurity built into dynastic marriage. The book also foreshadows that Henry will eventually become Eleanor's most dangerous enemy.