National Portrait Gallery History of The Kings and Queens of Great Britain

by David Williamson

Starting with Celtic Britain before the Roman invasion, David Williamson takes us through the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the coming of Christianity and unification of England, to the Norman Conquest in 1066. The subsequent dynastic struggles of Angevins and Plantagenets heralded the great age of English kingship, under the Tudors and Stuarts - a period as compelling as any in the country's history - before the Hanoverians ushered in the modern age and the royalty of today.
The author draws on his deep knowledge of history to paint a vivid and sensitive portrait of each monarch, dealing afresh with the controversies that surround them. His text is enlivened with anecdotes and complemented by a rich selection of images, largely chosen from the wealth of the National Portrait Gallery's collections, and by clear family trees.

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mine is the Hardbackwith Charlie Two in Parliamentary robes on the cover:



This is my primary reference source and is never far from my desk.

07.12.2013: How hilarious. This book is open all the time given the sort of reading habits that are followed here and honest-to-goodness, I have just noticed the bit on Richard III where it states he died at Bosworth *tick*, buried Grey Friars Abbey *tick-ish* and later disinterred and bones thrown in River Soar.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an invaluable, yet concise, history of the kings and queens of England starting in the 2nd century BC and illustrated with many wonderful portraits that hang in the National Portrait Gallery in England. There are family trees and brief histories of each monarch throughout. The introduction which covers the 2nd century BC to AD871 is excellent and each chapter continues chronologically through the House of Windsor. There is an excellent bibliography and a list of illustrations that shows where each portrait hangs, most of them in the National Portrait Gallery. There is also an "Index of Kings, Queens and Royal Family Members."

I relied upon this book heavily when I was reading The Daughter of Time for the history and family trees of Richard III (which now, of course, needs updating since the discovery of his skeleton in Leicester in 2012). My copy was published in 1998 and talks about Queen Elizabeth II celebrating her Golden Wedding anniversary. The last portrait is a simple, but poignant one of Princess Diana.

[Andrea Wall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great overview of the Kings and Queens of Enland. It was well written and easy to understand. It didn't go into detail much, but it makes it easier to quickly look up tidbits when ever you want. :)

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's title says it all. It's a nice, concise history of the English monarchy - half of it, the portraits and the other half, the accompanying bio's.

[Lydia Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history that starts from second century BC, right up to Queen Elizabeth II.
The origins of our current royal family apparently started from Celtic and Belgic tribesmen who emigrated from Continental Europe, settled in Britain and established a number of tribal kingdoms, and each of the tribes was ruled by a king.
I thought the family trees at the beginning of each chapter of the various royal dynasties was very good and informative, as well as the portraits of the kings and queens.
There are lots of "olde English" names at the beginning of the book e.g. Ethelfleda, Egwyn, Elfthryth; many names beginning with the letter E), it made for some very interesting reading.

[Debi Cates]

Paused, maybe DNF. May 14,2025

I think this may be too brief (and dry) for my tastes, although I love all the images and the family trees, too. Probably would make a good comprehensive book if you already knew all the interesting bits.

I'll hang on to it for a while, as a Reference, pull it out next time I am reading or watching some other Kings and Queens of England book or program.

The last royal image included is a painting of Princess Diana (1961-1997). A sad reminder of a sad time.

[Yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an outstanding way to learn the history of England! Using the content from the National Portrait Gallery the kings and queens are brought to life in a dynastic context, with family trees showing the relationships that shaped history. Very good commentary, written exceedingly well by David Williamson, who does an amazing job keeping the content interesting. I was impressed at how well it read over time.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book for years. I love European history, and have read this book numerous times. It has also been a great reference for whenever I'm reading other books that refer to English Monarchs. Great detail and pictures.

[Sian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and informative; learning about the history of the British monarchy is one of my passions and I hope it will act as a useful reference guide during my future studies!

[Roberta Molyneux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accessible yet dry, sweeping overview of the English monarchy.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

good for a quick overview and for the succesion

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice and well explained book about all the kings and queens of England.
It’s short so easy to read but quite complete!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

felt like a lot longer than 144 pages

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book enormously - it has wonderful pictures and I am always glad to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge. But its easy assumption of Henry VIII's syphilis, which has NOT been proven conclusively, as if it were the only explanation for his sickness and those of his children, which it is NOT, bothered me as did the author's frequent references to 'frigid' queens and giving that as a presumeably sufficient cause for their husbands' infidelity also bothered me. Definately a man's view of history.

[Amie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was good. The descriptions of each King and Queen weren't too long nor were they dry. Almost all of the information I already knew, however there were something I didn't. What I really enjoyed about this book was the family trees for each ruling house. It made it a lot easier to see which monarch came from which person. I also enjoyed the portraits. My only complaint is that it wasn't written in 2015, which means there isn't any information after 1998. All in all this book was an extremely enjoyable read.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a textbook masquerading as a coffee table book. The portraits are lovely, if a little sparse in comparison to the page count, and some of the reproductions are too small to be truly effective...and they deserve to be large reproductions. A useful book, but nothing more than a pretty overview.

[A.D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way back in POPIS library, 2002 there going i use to read a book titled history of Great Britain(not this very book but similar to this) its through the book i got to know many things about the history of Britain.
I remember i discused the history of Britain based on that book with my school mates in particular , David Quartey,Ransford Awatey, Henrietta Abbey in late 2004 there abouts.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a real page-turner or anything, but good as a reference when I'm reading historical stuff (fiction and non). Those wacky English keep naming their royalty the same thing -- too many Edwards, Henrys, and Williams to keep them straight. Plus, the portraits are fascinating.

[Karl Braungart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England

[bookyeti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read 10/2000

[Lamadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has just the basics about each monarch, but I ended up really wanting more. Now I have to find another book to give me more information. It was good for what it was meant to be.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Recorded Reading: October 31, 2000