THE MAMMOTH BOOKS OF BRITISH KINGS & QUEENS

by Mike Ashley

A record of Britain's kings and queens over 2000 years of history. It includes more than 1000 monarchs who have at some time ruled all or part of Britain. This includes the host of tribal and Saxon rulers prior to 1066 as well as famous monarchs such as Richard III, Elizabeth I and Charles II and all the rulers of Scotland and Wales. The book gives full details of the lives of the rulers as well as their wives, consorts, pretenders, usurpers and regents and is a geographical guide to where all Britain's monarchs lived, ruled and died including their palaces, estates and resting places.

Genres: History, Reference, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature, Politics, Ancient History

Paperback

First published August 31, 1997

About the author

Michael Raymond Donald Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books that in total have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Chatham, Kent.

Reviews

[Gary]

This is perhaps the most comprehensive one volume digest of British monarchs and spans 2000 years of rulers of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and smaller kingdoms withing Britain. There are over a thousand entries.
It has a section on LEGENDARY OR SEMI-HISTORICAL KINGS OF BRITAIN which includes the possibilities of who the legendary King Arthur was based on, as well as the King Lear we know from the Shakespeare play.
In this section he refers to the History by Geoffrey of Monmouth, whom Ashley does not see as a very incredible historian.
According to Geoffrey's History the legendary first king of Britain was Brut or Brutus who was supposed to have reigned about 1100 BCE. But Ashley says that although Geoffrey's is almost certainly a creation of his own imagination, there is no reason to disbelieve the concept of tribes of Celts arriving in Britain at this period and one strong leader emerging.

The first likely British king to have been documented is Beli Mwar (circa 100 BCE). It is possible to trace most British and Welsh rulers back to Beli.
Alfred the Great (871-899 CE), the best known of the West Saxon kings earned the epithet of the 'Great' not only because he held the Saxon nation together against the Dane invaders but because he improved the strength, culture and quality of his realm.

The section on kings of England tells us tat King William I The Conqueror or The Bastard, after his conquest of England, marched in 1069 against the rebels under Swein and Edgar. The author tells us that "harrying of the north was the most extreme example of despoiling and genocide that England has ever seen and for which William was never forgiven. He may have conquered them but he never ruled them".

We learn that the facts about Scottish king MacBeth are not reflected at all in Shakespeare's play.
As for Richard III, while Shakespeare may have greatly exaggerated his villainy, the author of this book believes that he almost certainly did order the murders of the young princes of the tower, as examined in The Princes in the Tower.

This book is a reference work, and can be referred to whenever reading up on British history, or historical fiction. It is also an interesting read in itself.
It is crammed with interesting facts such as the existence of the heredidatary disease porphyria which has infected the English royal family for centuries.
The Royal Book of Records in this digest is particularly fascinating.


The digest takes us up to the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997.
The monarchy has been in crisis many times before and while today it is going through difficulty one can only hope that such an ancient venerable institution it will survive.
It is up to the new generations to help the monarchy find a new place in the affections of the people.

[Lolly's Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say I'm finished with this because this is a book I find myself constantly picking up to peruse, to fact-check a show I'm watching or book I'm reading, or to help me untangle the complicated, intertwined royal family so I can figure out where a particularly squicky nephew fits into the line of succession. I can flip to any point, start reading, and find myself completely engrossed in the intrigue, treachery, backstabbing, plotting, betrothals and marriages, dynastic takeovers and takedowns, and other assorted shenanigans that take place whenever a crown and an important plot of land is involved. Each short biography is packed with information, enough to give a general overview of the monarch while whetting the appetite to know more (helpfully guided by the extensive bibliography at the back). Additionally there are numerous genealogical charts (including several side charts detailing those royal children born on the wrong side of the blanket, their offspring as well as their descendants; it's amazing how many bastards circled back around and became the ancestors of legitimate kings and queens), helpful timelines, and a fascinating section at the front called "The Royal Book of Records" which is full of lists like The Most Gruesome or Unusual Deaths, The Shortest Royal Marriages, and The Monarchs with the Most Children.

While a little bit of author bias creeps in here and there, considering this book represents 2000 years of British regal history and covers nearly a thousand monarchs, it's quite an excusable slip considering you won't find this kind of exhaustive and invaluable reference material packed into any other single, relatively compact book. Honestly, I wish he done a similar reference tome for the royals of France as they're quite the tricky bunch to figure out! I've read and handled my copy so many times, it's nearly been worn to shreds. I'm going to have to buy another copy soon, maybe this time get a hardback edition so that it might stand up to the repetitive handling better.

[Ken Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

greatest in depth book ever om britania

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashley did create a mammoth book of the kings and queens of Britain. This impressive text covers the rulers and royals from Roman times on. Starting off the book is a section called "The Royal Book of Records" with fun factoids such as the 'shortest royal marriage' (Alexander III and his bride who lasted four months and 19 days) and it ends with a helpful "Gazaetteer". An excellent book.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely cannot do without this book when working on anything dealing with royalty in England. Over two thousand years of material complete with tons of genealogical charts and enough information to whet the appetite for more. I love just picking the book up and turning to pretty much any page and just start to read. I never get bored of chasing family lines and going through the charts. I only wish that the author would of went into more detail on the Irish than he did.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Athelfrith, Athelhun, Athelric, Athelstan, Athelweard, Athelwulf- chances are you never heard of these guys. But you can find them, as well as Catgualart, Cartivel, Caw, Ceawlin, and Dafydd, Drest mac Drust, Dubnovellaunos, and Dumnocoveros, all inside this big huge book which purports to name every major and minor king of every major and minor kingdom of England (including Man and the Orkneys!) what ever was! Some interesting stuff in here, I say!

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide to all the British kings and queens from pre-Roman times to Lizzie II.

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for genealogy, though it did get a little confusing with so many of them.