Brief Lives of the English Monarchs: From William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II

by Carolly Erickson

Sharp and enjoyable new portraits of the English kings and queens.

Hunchbacked Richard III, the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I, the grieving widow Victoria, and the romantic who gave up his throne for love, Edward VIII - often the colourful kings and queens of England seem like mere caricature, while less familiar rulers like William IV or Henry VI have faded into the shadows of history. Carolly Erickson's sensitive and revealing portrayals bring new life to the big names, and light up some of our most neglected but intriguing royals. Here is the puny Charles I, nervous, tense and socially awkward, the frail slight Richard II, melancholic and sad, the homosexual James I with his handsome favourites, and the stuttering William II. Every monarch from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II is covered. Award winning historian Erickson tells the human stories with her characteristic blend of authenticity, engaging style and psychological insight.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, British Literature, Reference, European History

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Distinguished historian Carolly Erickson is the author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, The First Elizabeth, Great Catherine, Alexandra and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Hawaii.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/caroll...

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know your history of the British monarchy, you probably won't find much new in this book which covers the Kings/Queens from William I to the present monarch, Elizabeth II. I must admit that there were a few "iffy" statements regarding some monarchs' sexual preferences which I don't believe have ever been verified by historians. Other than that, each ruler is profiled (with paintings added which you can bet looked nothing like the subject) in a few pages highlighting their successes, quirks and failures. This is not a book to be read straight through....it seems to fit better in the category of reference. It is nice to have on hand to refresh one's memory or as a primer for the first time reader of British royal history.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Royal Panoply: Brief Lives of the English Monarchs, Carolly Erickson, 2003, edition 2007, 351 pages. Dewey 941.0099

British monarchs 1066-2005. A concise history.

Murderers-, rapists-, and robbers-in-chief. The "good" kings were good at killing people and plundering the peasantry. The bad kings let others do it. Many developed mental illness. All relied heavily on moneylenders (who now in fact rule).

[For the 866 CE - 937 CE Anglo Saxons-vs-Danes struggle for control of what became England, rather than Daneland (spoiler alert), see Bernard Cornwell's thirteen Saxon Stories novels: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ]

born-ruled from-ruled 'til-died
1003-1042-1066-1066 Edward the Confessor
1028-1066-1087-1087 William I (killed and plundered)
1056-1087-1100-1100 William II (retinue raped, killed, looted, burned)
1068-1100-1135-1135 Henry I (devious, deceitful, cruel)
1096-1135-1154-1154 Stephen (Civil war with Maud. [See Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael novels.])
1133-1154-1189-1189 Henry II (Archbishop Thomas Becket killed 1170)
1157-1189-1199-1199 Richard I (bled England for his 1194 ransom)
1167-1199-1216-1216 John (Magna Carta 1215, forced by barons)
1207-1216-1272-1272 Henry III (weak, cowardly)
1239-1272-1307-1307 Edward I (royal laws, massive debts)
1284-1307-1327-1327 Edward II (inept)
1313-1327-1377-1377 Edward III (plague 1348- ; lost France)
1367-1377-1399-1400 Richard II (weak, vain. 1391 famine, plague)
1366-1399-1413-1413 Henry IV (incapacitated after 1405)
1386-1413-1422-1422 Henry V (bankrupt England, war w/France)
1421-1422-1461-1471 Henry VI (weak. Lost England to York.)
1442-1461-1483-1483 Edward IV (Married an unpopular queen. Tudor would win succession.)
1452-1483-1485-1485 Richard III (Unliked usurper.)
1457-1485-1509-1509 Henry VII (opulent court)
1491-1509-1547-1547 Henry VIII (the English Nero)
1537-1547-1553-1553 Edward VI (sickly boy)
1516-1553-1558-1558 Mary I (burned Protestants at the stake)
1533-1558-1603-1603 Elizabeth I (feared)
1566-1603-1625-1625 James I (irresponsible)
1600-1625-1649-1649 Charles I (beheaded by Parliament)
1599-1653-1658-1658 Oliver Cromwell (Lord Protector. When he died and his son proved weak, Brits wanted their king.)
1630-1660-1685-1685 Charles II (ballooned national debt, spent his time whoring.)
1633-1685-1688-1701 James II (deposed)
1662-1689-1702-1702 William III (1650-1702, disliked) and Mary II (1662-1694 monarch when William away)
1665-1702-1714-1714 Anne (ignorant, indecisive, unregal)
1660-1714-1727-1727 George I (vindictive)
1683-1727-1760-1760 George II (rude, despised England)
1738-1760-1820-1820 George III (paranoid)
1762-1820-1830-1830 George IV (worthless, detested, ridiculed)
1765-1830-1837-1837 William IV (often foolish)
1819-1837-1901-1901 Victoria ("We women are not made for governing." Grandmother of Kaiser Wilhelm.)
1841-1901-1910-1910 Edward VII (figurehead)
1865-1910-1936-1936 George V ("The king is a very jolly chap but thank God there's not much in his head."--Lloyd George. Changed the Hanover family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.)
1894-1936-1936-1972 Edward VIII (Abdicated. Admired Hitler.)
1895-1936-1952-1952 George VI (unintelligent)
1926-1952-2022-2022 Elizabeth II ("Enmired in the protocol of ancient fatuity."--John Osborne. p. 327. Silent on Britain's economic decline and social problems. p. 329.)
1948-2022- - Charles III

There was always plague in London in the summer. p. 209, 1665 was worst in memory: 70,000 died. 1666 London burned.

In 1390, Henry Bolingbroke, with some 200 English knights, squires, and grooms, set out for Lithuania, to conquer and convert the pagan Lithuanians--the last remaining area in the West where Christianity had not yet penetrated. p. 103.

See Terry Jones, /Who Killed Chaucer?/ for more on the Richard II usurpation by Henry IV.

"To women you cannot be too civil. Especially to great ones." --Duke of Newcastle, instructing the young Charles II, early 1600s. p. 204.

Trespassing is not illegal in England. p. 324.




ERRATA
p. 7 Exeter is in Devon.

TRIVIA QUIZ
https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...

[Greg Strandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book if you want to know a little on each of England's 40 monarchs. For the most part, these were bad people. Most of them drank too much, spent way too much money, and had all kinds of sexual affairs. A lot of them neglected their duties so they could collect art, for instance. It's really no surprise that the people took more and more power back over the years.

There were some good monarchs, but I'd say that of the 40, only 10 or so had really redeeming qualities and helped their country out. Overall, this is a good book that kept my interest and provided me with lots of details for each of the 5-6 page chapters on each ruler.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many books about the English monarchy, being an Anglophile and all that, but this is the best, most entertaining one-volume summation of all the Kings and Queens in order. There's just the right amount of information on each for an overview, and Carolly gets into the psychology and early lives (to the extent possible) about many of them, rare in most histories. Highly recommended if you want to get a walking familiarity with a thousand years of English history.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely handy reference book for the Royal Monarchs from William II to Elizabeth II.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.75*

[Charlene Vickers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of historical blunders here, and some jarring quirks in diction and syntax. For example, Ericksen confuses the words "homosexual" and "homoerotic"; although this is often deliberate among the Pat Robertson/Rick Santorum crowd, here it seems (or at least I hope it is) inadvertent. That's the most striking (and the post potentially teeth-grinding) example, but there are others.

As for the factual errors I mentioned, here's a bunch from one biography: Richard I wasn't gay. He's known to have had many female lovers, and may have raped women (jury's still out on that, but it is more likely than not). He shared a bed with a French Prince, once, at a time when people shared beds platonically all the time. His intended probably didn't become his father's mistress; the story is not contemporary.

I skipped ahead to Henry VIII to see if Anne Boleyn had six fingers - luckily not, but that may be because she is only mentioned in passing.

[Xanthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook.
I have to admit that before starting on this book, I really didn't know much about the monarchs of Britain. I'm not in the least bit a monarchist but history does interest me, so I thought I would give this book ago. I'm glad I did, as it is a very good introduction to all the British monarchs from the last one thousand years. Each chapter presents a semi brief summary of a king or queens reign, what was happening in their nation at the time, and overseas, and notes on their habits, temperament, and structure of their families. I found how and by whom each one was succeeded to be especially interesting because it was often a convoluted affair.
All in all, an interesting and educational book. I did get a bit confuse times though, thanks to the repeated use of names (Edward, Henry, and George), but apart from that, I found the complicated history of the monarchs fairly easy to follow, thanks to the author's skill in telling it.

[Susan Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more you know about a subject the nitpicky-er you get, and there were some strange "facts" here that I know are just either not true or not known. (Which of course makes me wonder what else is wrong that I didn't catch because I don't know.) One example, she says that the bones of Richard III were dug up and thrown into the River Soar during the time of Henry VIII. ? I've never even heard that one before, no "perhaps", "no rumor has it", no "legend says" no "allegedly", a statement of fact. And WE KNOW he was in the car park all this time, Carolly.)

But over all, this was a readable, entertaining book and a good introduction or review of the British monarchs.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for anyone intersted in learning about the English Monarchs, but not wanting to spend an eternity reading all the biographies that are out there about them. Each one has a 5-10 page summary. Having read other bios on a few of them, Carolly Erickson pointed out other aspects of their lives and reigns that other biographers didn't mention. She was decent to Richard III. That's why she got three stars. If she had been better, it would have been higher.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a brief, yet detailed, overview of the lives of British monarchs. Most of the names mentioned in the book are familiar to the average person, though this would be a good book for someone with some interest in this topic. There are a few people in this book that I would like to learn more about, and some that I have read about fairly extensively. I got this book at a Booksamillion going out of business sale, and picked it up simply because I enjoy this author. While it was not my favorite book by this author, it was sufficiently well written and detailed.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives thumbnail sketches of the kings and queens of England, from William the Conqueror to the current Elizabeth II. If you're looking for a book to teach you about English history through the lives of the monarchs, you should look elsewhere. Although the important events of each reign are mentioned, this book is really about the monarchs themselves. What Erickson does best is make them all human. Whether they've been vilified (i.e., King John of Robin Hood fame and Richard II) or lionized (Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria), kings and queens tend to seem larger-than-life. But Erickson gives insights into both there talents and their flaws. It's really their flaws that make them more interesting; and also make you wonder how the country wasn't run into the ground with some of the people who were in charge of it.

Another interesting aspect is how each royal line has it's own strengths and flaws that seem to haunt each generation. The Plantagenet's weren't deemed successful if they weren't skilled at war, the Tudors generally had brilliant minds, the Stuarts were rather conceited and ineffective and the Hanovers were usually rather horrid parents that tended to hate their heirs (and, sadly, were rarely as smart as the Tudors).

Each monarch gets about 10-15 pages, which makes it a good book to pick up at bedtime and read a few chapters. It's too confusing if you try to read it straight through; it really is better to read about a couple monarchs and then come back to it later and read about the next couple.

I have a decent background in English history, which certainly helps me to keep track of what is happening. You probably want at least a grasp of the basic history of England before you attempt this. I found it fascinating and it inspired me to learn more, especially about monarchs I hadn't thought about much.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this book because I have a few ancestors who were medieval British monarchs and wanted to learn more about them. (I can't say that I am proud of this heritage now that I know more about them.) I liked that the author gave a brief summary of each king or queen's life. Short enough to fit in an average of 8 pages, but detailed enough to give some insight into their personalities. By the last third of the book I was getting pretty bored. Not so much a reflection of the author or her writing abilities, but I was tired of these self-absorbed people who only cared about their own vanities and their many lovers and/or mistresses while they were in a position to really improve the lives of thousands of people. But they didn't seem to care. This was not true of all of them, but an embarrassingly large percentage. I did like that the author tried to point out positive and negative qualities about each person. I think the book could have been improved by having a picture of each monarch at the beginning of the chapter that was about them instead of having pictures of a select few on colour plates in the middle. When I read a biography I like to have a face to match it with.

[Yasmin Halliwell Fraser Bower · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brief lifes of the English Monarchs is a compilation of biographies of all the monarchs, being each one explained briefly in 10 pages. I honestly thought this book was gonna leave a lot of things out, because there are a lot of Kings & Queens and not too many pages, but it was actually a flat book. It did not explain the essence of the person. For example, Henry VII? It didn't specify why or how many wifes he killed and it was relevant in his story.

So, for me this book was a little too shallow and superficial, even for a briefing. It was kind of disappointing actually, but well, not the author for me. It just felt boring and that she did not research the history well.
Anyway, it was not my kind of book and it’s sad because I know some stories to be interesting. I'm giving this book 2 stars. Shame u.ú

[Nay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good starting point for anyone interested in the history of the English Monarchs. I feel like it's probably designed to dip into, rather than listen to straight through as I did, because there is a lot of overlap and repeated information which works for that skimming style. However, I really enjoyed listening to this, and especially learning more about the monarchs I didn't know so much about. Each chapter goes through a short biography of the entire life of each monarch, rather than just the reign which is also interesting. The book is a few years old so a tad outdated for Elizabeth II but this would always be a problem with this kind of read. Definitely would recommend.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 331 pages the author covers every monarch from William the Conquerer to the present Queen. Although the bios are brief, I never had the sense that they were abridged versions of longer works. Each has a personal and illuminating aspect to it. 'They' say that it is much more difficult to write something succinct nuch as a short story than something longer such as a novel. In the non-fiction world, Carooly Erickson has succeeded inj producing 39 excellent short 'stories.'

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erickson's book is an enjoyable series of short personal histories (roughly 10 pages each) of every British monarch from William I to Elizabeth II. It is, however, too skewed towards these monarchs' personal lives. A more balanced approach that gave more detailed treatment to the professional lives and accomplishments of Britain's Kings and Queens would have made for far more interesting reading.

[S.B. Stokes · Rating 3 out of 5]

On my own I’ve managed to read a bit in depth on this royal lineage up till Charles III so I thought this would be a good book to hopefully fill in the remaining monarchs. However after realizing how threadbare the narratives were for the later monarchs, I’ll probably keep working at doing my own research on each to get the full picture of the times each monarchs loved and ruled. Like another reviewer said, it’s a good primer!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out at the library just to skim and use as a source of reference. But when I started reading it, I couldn't stop and didn't want to even skip a paragraph. The author took British History that could be so dull and gave it life. If you are interested in the monarchy, I highly recommend this book.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this though I suspect that some artistic licence has been taken i.e. the location of the body of Richard III being different from what is now known (under a carpark).

[Brannigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The brief Bios are interesting and touch on the main points of the Monarchs. I would have rated it higher but they started with William the Conqueror instead of Alfred the Great.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled in my knowledge gaps; slightly repetitive material but not a deal-breaker. Solid audio narration helped keep my interest.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly interesting group of short bios of British kings from William I to Elizabeth II.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging, short biographies of all of the English monarchs, how they came to power, their personalities & pitfalls. Well-written, though at times repetitive with information when discussing the history that led to the fall of one monarch and the rise of another, which some may actually find helpful. The only thing that would have helped would have been the addition of family trees to help visualize lineage.

[Mauri Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great way to learn quickly about the kings and queens of Britain. I have been supplementing it with You Tube videos. Very interesting. It amazed me how many of them had mental illness later in life. Then I read articles about the lead glazing on pottery, using mercury or arsenic for cosmetics or diseases....so it's no wonder. Henry VIII had a lot of problems having children.....I've read the Kell Gene hypothesis....but lead toxicity also can cause childbirth problems. And paranoia...as I'm reading that Henry VII had later in Winter King. And they used lead acetate in wine (no-one drank water in England at that time.) All very interesting. A very good and fast read.

[Jo Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd time I've read this book. I've loved it both times. A very entertaining way to learn more about the English Monarchy. I've enjoyed other history books by Carolly too. I'd love to see her write a similar style of book following the Queens, wives and mothers in more detail, even though it would probably be double the volume!

[Dustin Lovell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd say it's a useful handbook for learning about England's monarchs—and it is very readable, either in series or piece-by-piece, and has a genuinely interested tone—but according to Erickson we're supposed to believe a large number of them were overweight sodomites, which is a stretch, especially re those in the medieval period.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview on the lives of all of England's monarchs starting with William the Conqueror. Each biography is brief but very informative. Would recommend to anyone looking to get a general understanding of the lives of English monarchs.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a great overview of the English Monarchs! Very helpful in putting each reign in context. In future editions I hope they include family trees and perhaps a picture with each entry.

[Carol Blakeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It really was a good overview of the modern kings and Queens of England.