The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain

by Charles Phillips

Illustrated history of royalty in Britain

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

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

There is more than one author by this name on Goodreads

Charles Phillips (b. 1962) is an established writer of popular history, a contributor to Cassell's Dictionary of Modern Britain as well as to the Chronicle of Britain and several illustrated stories.

He has a keen interest in the mythology and history of the great Maya and Aztec civilizations and was a key writer on Time Life's Myth and Mankind series.
Phillips is a graduate of Oxford University, and holds an MA from the University of Westminster.

See also:
Charles Phillips, 1787-1859
Charles Phillips, Goodreads author, Historical Fiction
Charles Phillips, b.1948, American history

Reviews

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Kings and Queens of Britain by Charles Phillips is a book I quite simply couldn’t stop reading. I went back and forth, reached the end, dived back in into the Stuarts, then checked out Victoria again – did further reading and then spent the night with Henry VIII. It went on and on.


If you love history and you want a high quality, succinct, perfectly illustrated wee book of British Royal History – I can’t recommend this enough. It is so much fun. It’s only around 250 pages, but there is so much information jammed into each subject. Maps, family trees, pictures, paintings – the lot. A book for someone who loves to worm-around, learning about history.


Disclosure: As a devout Australian Republican, I am no fan of hereditary Monarchies – for example, Australia is old enough to have its own, Australian, Head of State. But it doesn’t mean one can’t still enjoy this wonderful history.


We start with the Ancient Monarchs, wonderful characters like Boudicca, the Romans, King Arthur – it’s great the author acknowledged the importance of mythical, legendary characters. Did some of these people exist? I listened to a recent BBC4 podcast where all 3 academics present denied Boudicca ever existed at all (sob). We then enter the wonderful world of the Anglo-Saxons, a fascinating period during the development of Christianity and constant skirmishes with those pesky Vikings.


But this book really gets going, in a Royal sense, with the Plantagenets. This lot includes Richard II (r. 1377-1399 CE), this fascinating character forced me to read Billy the Bard’s Richard II and watch the same episode on the Hollow Crown on the BBC – that was a MAJOR distraction, I was lost to the real world for a few days. We proceed through the Tudors and Stuarts starting at 1485, then the house of Hanover. I may be a bit dim, but I just didn’t realise how German the British Royal lineage is. I knew there are a few pints of Hanoverian blood there, but many of the earlier Monarchs couldn’t even speak a word of English, and hardly spent any time in England at all! We finish up on the House of Windsor – the current lot. This is less interesting as we know a so much about them anyway. All in all, this is well in excess of 20 Monarchs.


I can’t leave this book without giving my vote for the most impressive Monarch. It must be Elizabeth I. She reigned during the heady period of 1558-1603 CE and what a colossus she was. Surrounded by dodgy dudes, she was the daughter of Henry VIII, right in the middle of the whole Catholic/Protestant thing, and those pesky Spanish – remember, she gave the Spanish Armada a spanking! No small thing, the British Navy was hopelessly outnumbered. She was beautiful (well I reckon), commanded over an age of discovery and managed to resist the overtures of so many blokes, wanting to bed her. The Virgin Queen wins hands down.






The right regal Queen Elizabeth I


If you have a minute, please watch this – Elizabeth’s Tilbury Speech, given to troops at Tilbury as the they were preparing for a Spanish invasion. It is spine tingling.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Bq1...



I can’t go without giving an award to the biggest Royal Muppet. To me this was easy, even if there were numerous clowns who have sat on the Royal Throne. The Wooden Crown goes to………drum roll, King George IV (r 1820-1830 CE). This corpulent, self-indulgent, gluttonous, over-extravagant idiot was unfortunate to have followed Kings George I, II and III, all with their limitations (put politely) – but George IV takes the cake (see what I did there?). He was Prince Regent when George III went bonkers and didn’t even break stride in partaking in the pleasures of office. Even though, to be fair, he was said to be intelligent and a great supporter of the Arts. I love some of the comic images of George IV (see below) at the time:





King George IV, a bit of a Numpty


I loved this. Truly loved it.


5 Stars

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good chronological look at english royal history including loads of other info such as maps, charts and geneologies. My only gripe is the frequent occurence of obvious inaccuracies which any proof reader should have picked up. A few examples: "henry was devoted to his first wife eleanor of castile " when he means edward I who the article is about. Or drake's voyage in 1587 is referred to but the accompanying map says 1567. Or the most shocking, referring to queen elizabeth II showing sympathy for americans after the terrorist attack of september 9 2001!

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So excited to even OWN this book!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a lot longer to read then I expected but very informative. I know understand the British Monarchy a LITTLE better.

[RuthyMB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic illustrated comprehensive guide to all of the Monarchs as far back as King Arthur. Absolutely fascinating!

[Keira · Rating 5 out of 5]

For history geeks like me, this book is WONDERFUL. Easy to read, and yet so full of information. It's a beautiful combination of biography, drama, and fun facts all in this great book.

[Science and Fiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a specialist in history, just an enthusiast, so for my purposes I found the way the book is organized very easy to use whenever I want a quick refresher about who did what and what happened when. Even though this is more of a highlights approach and doesn’t give a deep dive on any particular issue, it is just enough to get the overall big picture. Important events such as The Magna Carta or War of the Roses are engaging because they don’t devolve into arcane details that the average reader might not be interested in. And the lavish illustrations and sidebars make it all a more immersive experience. Since my DNA report and living relatives chart shows my heritage is from Denmark and the Danelaw area of Britain I was particularly interested in the earlier development of the nation under Alfred the Great.

Given the ease of use as a reference and the quality of presentation I see no reason to withhold five stars.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book that provided some nice historical tidbits about Britain's rulers. Each ruler is given some information with key events also highlighted. I especially enjoyed reading about the War of the Roses, Queen Elizabeth's adoration by her subjects, Charles II's ridiculous number of illegitimate children, George III's madness (and decency of character while sane), Victoria's obsession with her husband Albert. It was also interesting to track how the British monarchs gradually lost their power: not in one definitive moment but slowly, bit by bit, they went from powerful rulers to influential celebrities.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎶WILLIAM WILLIAM HENRY STEVEN HENRY RICHARD JOHN OI HENRY ED ED ED RICH TWO THEN THREE MORE HENRYS JOIN OUR SONG EDWARD EDWARD RICH THE THIRD HENRY HENRY ED AGAIN MARY ONE GOOD QUEEN BESS JIMMY CHARLES AND CHARLES AND THEN JIM WILL MARY ANNA GLORIA GEORGE GEORGE GEORGE GEORGE WILL VICTORIA EDWARD GEORGE EDWARD GEORGE SIX AND QUEEN LIZ TWO COMPLETES THE MIXXXXX🎶
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
🎶THATS ALL THE ENGLISH KINGS AND QUEENS SINCE WILLIAM FIRST THAT THERE HAVE BEEN….🎶

….BUT NOT FOR LONG

[Rees Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anybody with an interest in kings or queen,

This is essentially your book.

You need to read this to have an understanding of the various monarchy figures over the years.

Would definitely recommend.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-4 stars

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview Great facts + pictures, some additional pages of information at particular points i.e. Elizabeth I, James I.

[Kay Adelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone very interested in history, and using historical figures and events for inspiration for my own writing, I was super excited when I got this book. I started this book with the intention of growing my knowledge of medieval England and the kings and queens around during that time, since many of my stories are medieval fantasy and I love the medieval time. Before reading this encyclopedia, I could recite all the kings from William the Conquerer to King John from memory–now I can pretty much recite from William the Conquerer to Edward VII.

The encyclopedia was really nice for a brief overview of just the kings and queens of England and the major events during their lives. The ancient and medieval kings and queens of both England and Scotland each had about a page or two dedicated to them, and from the War of the Roses onward, a few had pages dedicated to larger happenings during their lives. Queen Elizabeth I was the first of a few select kings and queens who had a large section dedicated to them, and her section covered everything from her potential marriage partners and relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots, to her court life and her last days. Then, the Stuarts were covered, the first to unite the thrones of England and Scotland together, and in-between their rule, the brief civil war where parliament took control under Oliver Cromwell. After the Stuarts came the Hanoverian kings, the most famous of them being George III, and then another large section was dedicated to Queen Victoria and her doings. Finally, it ended with covering the modern day royals.

This encyclopedia was published in 2006, so it does not have some of the more recent news of the royal family, and if someone is looking for an in-depth book about a particular king or queen, or even about a prince/princess who should have ruled but did not, this book is not the right one for you. However, for someone who just wants a light, working knowledge of some of England’s history and kings and queens, this encyclopedia is a very light and informative read, with plenty of cool illustrations to boot!

I highly recommend this encyclopedia to anyone who is interested in British royalty, wants to learn just the basics about British history, or who wants a source to be able to find interesting facts to further research, whether that be for an essay, report, or even inspiration for a creative writing project!

Personal Rating: 5/5 Stars

To read some facts I learned from this encyclopedia, go here: https://kayadelin.com/2024/08/02/july...

[MBC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew I would fall so in love with a book like this. I read it straight through like a novel. The illustrations are great and the history is filled with interesting facts about personalities and incidents that make the whole book a treat.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was SO confused over the place of Kings and Queens of Britain and whether they were considered good or bad rulers. This book straightens out my misconceptions. A must-read for anyone curious about the Royals!

[April Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invaluable reference book on the royal monarchs of Great Britain. I've used this several times in various projects.

[Captain_Howdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous illustrations.

European royalty has two primary hobbies. Marrying and executing each other.

[Daniel Domenech · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, it's a hell of a long book. Overall a great read. Once you get to the 1700's, it starts to get a bit dullsince it focuses on the role of powerless rulers. Nevertheless, a very thorough read.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not live without this book.

[Belle Meade School]

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