The Queens of England

by Barbara Softly

New

Genres: History, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Kavanaugh Kohls · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant little read. Sped through some of the parts that are the same from Queen to Queen. Some sentences took a bit of extra chewing to go down. Still, a perfectly enjoyable overview.

[Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consisting of brief biographies of every Queen of England* since the Norman Conquest (in 1066, for those of you who failed history), The Queens of England is full of interesting little tidbits. A fair few of these queens, I have to say I have never heard of, so it was good to read about them. I've never formally studied English history pre-industrial revolution, because a good chunk of my school years were spent in America, so much of what I know is through reading, mainly historical fiction. It's only within the last year or so that I realised Richard the Lionheart married, for example. Ergo, The Queens of England has been rather informative and would - will - make a good reference guide for continued reading of historical fiction. I have but two complaints. Firstly, the minimal bibliographic information. Particularly since reading Cupid and the King: Five Royal Paramours I've been suspicious of non-fiction books that don't provide detailed sources for facts. I want to be able to verify information easily. The second complaint is this: under every queen's name, before her biography is listed her birth, death, husband(s), children, father, and period of reign. I know it is fairly common to list a person's lineage simply by the father, and yes, the mother is mostly mentioned within the biography... but this is a list of important women; would it be too much to ask to include their mothers' names on the list?

*and one or two women who didn't quite make it to queen.

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "The Queens of England," Barbara Softly gives a brief overview of each Queen of England since the first Century. I have a strong interest in British monarchs, so this was a perfect guide to getting to know a little more about the queens that were brushed over in history class, and the queens I had never heard of. I love reading about their accomplishments and their marriage dynamics. I hope Softly continues to update her Kings/Queens of England books.

I only wish that there was some sort of family tree diagram I could have followed along with, but of course, that would be a bit large and too continuous for the book.

[Collin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little overview of all the queens of England. Granted, it gets hard to keep track of who married who/who's related to who/who IS who/et cetera after a while, but if you don't stress too much, it's quite fun. There were some really fascinating women behind the throne of England back when. A few of my favorites were Eleanor of Castile (1272-1290), Anne of Cleves (1540 - she was married to and divorced Henry VIII the same year), and Alexandra of Denmark (1901-1910). Definitely some people to research.

[Kelly A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provided a pretty interesting brief background on each queen/queen consort of England. Had a few mistakes, such as an error in Katherine of Aragon's birth date and listing Mary II as Charles I's daughter when she was his granddaughter.

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives a shot in the arm to my history knowledge, which is abysmal, and helps me get all these ruling families in some sort of chronological order. Softly makes it through the entire 150 pages or so with only two references to Shakespeare! Astonishing.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful "potted" biograhies for each of England's queens.
I refer to it periodically, particulary while reading historical fiction.