Reviews for The lives of the kings & queens of England

The average rating for The lives of the kings & queens of England based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-01-30 00:00:00 Jonathan Morowitz Amusingly, and hardly surprisingly, this became much more conservative as it got closer to the current day. One author even goes so far as to look back longingly at the golden age of the past when people didn’t get divorced and newspapers didn’t print stories about the love lives of the royals. I guess this book knows its audience – I mean, you are probably most likely to read a book by this title if you think the monarchy is a good thing and are a conservative old fool in a nursing home (or a conservative old fool in waiting to go to a nursing home), whereas I was mostly reading it for amusing anecdotes. All the same, for every ten people cheering and waving flags there is always one like myself sniggering behind their hand and this I take as my role in writing this review. I thought the person who wrote on the House of Windsor at the end got somewhat carried away. Not just with the nonsense that the current Queen has set up the royal family to make its way into the third millennium (can anyone really imagine England still being ruled by a King in a thousand years – what a particularly depressing thought that is), but also for the stuff about the Queen never having made a faux pas (a rather interesting observation to make about a woman who married Prince Phillip, I’d have thought). However, William or no William and whatever his thin wife is called, it is hard to see the Windsors plodding on for another thousand years. They are a particularly dim and dull-witted lot – and rather too proud in their low-brow tastes. But then again, just how could you convince someone that it would be a good idea to spend a life doing whatever it is that Charles has been doing, without them being dumb as dog's shit? I wanted to read this to see what might be said about those Shakespearian characters from Richard II through to Richard III. I was surprised that Shakespeare seems to have kept quite well to the overall story. I was also surprised at how many of these monarchs had their last words recorded. Often these were almost meaningless in terms of their lives, one (can’t remember which now – probably one of the Georges) died talking about the Church – not really one of his key interests while he was alive. It is even recorded that George II died on the toilet, a victim to constipation – well and the stodgy English diet, I assume - or presume. I have read some of the longer versions of these, particularly for James I and Charles I. The longer versions are much more interesting and, obviously enough, contain much more detail. I've always found the homosexual antics of James I particularly amusing, especially given he gave his name to the ever popular version of the Bible – or is it just me who sees this as being somewhat amusingly ironic? But this is a rogues’ gallery of people who other then through winning the lottery of birth would never have been remembered for anything of consequence. They have been, despite all advantage, remarkably consistent in their bovine intelligence. All the same, hard to imagine a tabloid being able to eke out an existence without the constant stream of stories this particularly dysfunctional family provides.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-06-03 00:00:00 Steve Seno This was a really informative and enjoyable read. Story being the essence of history (of good history, at any rate), this collection of biographical essays chronicling the lives of each of England's rulers (post 1066 - pre Norman monarchs are not dealt with here) makes for a very engaging and illuminating tour of English history as a whole. I got this volume at a used library sale a number of years ago and have frequently skimmed various parts. But after watching The King’s Speech and being also in the midst of working my way through Shakespeare's historical plays (to which this makes an excellent companion), I decided to dive in and read it cover to cover. The big names are of course especially fascinating subjects, of whom there are too many among such a lineage to even begin commenting upon. But as with any drama, the minor players often manage to steal the show: Robert Curthose, The Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Edward the Black Prince, John of Gaunt, and Warwick “The Kingmaker,” to name a few standouts. Being essentially the chronicle of a family over the course of a thousand years, the dramatical effect is heightened and thought-provoking lessons and examples (a few positive, but many negative) abound. Poor husband-wife and parent-child relations sure do explain a lot that goes on in history. Among the many sad examples in this lineage, those that are chronicled regarding the Hanoverians are perhaps most horrific. A thoughtful parent also shouldn’t fail to note, how often strong (to the point of overbearing) fathers produce weak, and at times even effeminate sons (William II from William I, Edward II from Edward I, Edward VIII and George VI from George V), some of whom manage to rise above their oppressive legacy (George VI, most famously), while others of course do not. Conversely, the unexpected arising of strong, capable, and even morally upright offspring from less than promising parentage testifies to the often surprising goodness of God’s providence, and should provide encouragement to historical pessimists (Edward III from Edward II, Edward VI and Elizabeth I from Henry VIII, George V from Edward VII). In other words, we can take heart, as well as be warned, that DNA is not conclusive in determining one’s destiny. If one takes the long view, and learns to think generationally, he should expect the Lord to orchestrate surprising changes of fortune, both for weal and for woe. The other thing that I was especially struck by in the course of this reading was the realization of how deeply embedded within the English tradition is respect for the rule of law, which has obvious bearing upon a solid understanding of American history as an extension of English history. English monarchs who have flouted such regard and arrogantly sought to place themselves above the law as having absolute authority have never been tolerated, as per the examples of King John (of Magna Carta fame), Richard II, the middle Stuarts, and (from the American point of view, at least) George III (though in that last case more blame probably rests upon his advisers and upon Parliament than upon the King personally, who was essentially a good man, though a rather unstable one). I also picked up this volume recently, which is a great supplement to the subject. The biographical information on each monarch is much less detailed than in the book reviewed here, but it does include some additional tidbits that these authors overlooked, and overall it is more extensive in its presentation: pre-Norman history all the way back to ancient times, the Scottish royal house, notable castles, palaces and residences, etc.