Kniga posvyashchena odnoy iz klyuchevykh figur vo frantsuzskoy natsionalnoy istorii, a takzhe v istorii zapadnoevropeyskogo Srednevekovya v tselom - Zhanne d'Ark. Vpervye v mirovoy istoriografii rech idet ob izuchenii stanovleniya mifa o svyatoy Orleanskoy Deve na protyazhenii pochti pyati vekov: s momenta ee poyavleniya na istoricheskoy stsene v 1429 g. vplot do rubezha XIX-XX vv. Issledovanie protsessa prevrashcheniya Zhanny d'Ark v natsionalnuyu svyatuyu, sochetavshego v sebe ee «realnuyu» i mifologizirovannuyu istorii, prizvano raskryt kak osobennosti politicheskoy kultury Zapadnoy Evropy kontsa Srednevekovya i Novogo vremeni, tak i stanovlenie ponyatiya svyatosti v XV-XIX vv. Rabota osnovana na bolshom korpuse istochnikov: materialakh sudebnykh protsessov, traktatakh teologov i yuristov, khronikakh XV v. i istoricheskikh sochineniyakh XVI-XVIII vv., khudozhestvennykh proizvedeniyakh, materialakh mestnogo pochitaniya Zhanny d'Ark v Orleane XV-XIX vv., trudakh frantsuzskikh istorikov XIX v.