Edward VI

The English Monarchs

by Jennifer Loach, George Bernard (Editor), Penry Williams (Editor)

This new biography of Edward VI, the boy king who died at 15 after ruling England for only six years, reveals for the first time his significant personal impact on the history of his country. Jennifer Loach portrays Edward as healthy and vigorous (contrary to previous views), precocious, highly educated, and decisive, and she details the dramatic context in which his reign played out.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, British Literature, Tudor Period, Royalty

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 1999

Reviews

[Nick Artrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finishing Alison Weir's biography of Henry VIII, I've circled back to Edward VI. I've reading Chris Skidmore's Edward VI: The Lost King of England, so this time I settled upon the more simply titled Edward VI by Jennifer Loach. Poor Edward, well poor at least in this scheme of things. Edward had a short reign and was the last child king of England, sort of disappointing after the preceding decades of kerfuffle in quest for a legitimate male heir. To me Edward always gets sort of lost between the grand drama of Henry VIII and the great Elizabethan Age, so I was interested to see how this biography would frame him.

It would be fair to say this book is less a biography about Edward VI and more a work about the government surrounding him which is something Loach acknowledges along the way: "Edward was obviously too young to rule himself and the history of his reign must therefore be the history of those who ruled in his name." What we are able to discern, however, is how essential of a political key Edward VI was and I found the information about Edward, Duke of Somerset and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland fascinating, although a bit sparse on the details.

Loach explores the impact of population growth, social unrest and economic difficulties during Edward's reign in a chapter I found particularly interesting and which provides a lot of great information that I'm sure will be useful as I explore the women who close out the Tudor era. Some of this includes the issue of enclosure (turning public land into private property) and the public response to religious reform. There are a few instances in the text where quotations are provided in French without translation and the reader must instead rely upon summation by Loach. I didn't appreciated this and it left me scratching my head, but it is difficult to judge this book (the author died before completing the work and the book was published posthumously.)

[Matthew Welker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a book on Edward VI. A short reign and one by someone who died as a teenager. You’ll get a look into what we know about Edward the person or at least can deduce. I would have to agree with the author’s assessment that he did seem to be very much his father’s son when it came to more martial interests though differed a bit when came to the changing times regarding. However, I have to wonder if the religious side of Edward had more to do with who he was surrounded with as an impressionable youth.

The book I’d say is less about Edward and more about what happened during his reign which given what’s been mentioned already is no surprise. So I think there’s something to learn here regarding what happened and at least get an idea of Edward himself plus theorize about what could’ve been.

I think the book does a fine job on the subject matter and while I finished it in 4 days as it’s a short read, I wouldn’t say it engaged me enough to the point I could’ve gotten through it sooner. I’d still say if looking for a book on Edward VI then this wouldn’t be a bad pick. I got what I wanted out of it.

[Dusty Folds · Rating 1 out of 5]

While this book did a good job changing my opinion about Edward VI--he was less a religious zealot and more simply a royal child--the writing and research left much to be desired, especially from a book in this series. It should be noted that the author Jennifer Loach died before she was able to write the book. She had conducted quite a bit of research and had written some rough outlines, but the publishers then brought on two other scholars to do the best they could with her work and create this book. It seems that the two other authors (George Bernard and Penry Williams) have less interest in the topic of Edward VI. As a result, there are important aspects of his reign that are completely downplayed or rushed through (e.g. the entire Sir Thomas Seymour arrest and execution) and then there are other narrative decisions that make no sense and thus create confusion. This book needed better authors to take on the task that Loach was unable to complete and it needed better editors to insist on rewrites. In the end, I simply expected better from the Yale Monarch Series . . . and I think both Edward VI and Jennifer Loach deserved better for their legacies.

[William Whalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parlez-vous Français? I know just enough French to realize that eating poisson won't kill you. So when encountering large quotes written in French in a English biography, you can imagine my consternation. Admittedly, only a small portion of the book has this issue but it is enough to keep my rating to 3 stars instead of 4. Otherwise, this is an interesting, thorough although short (as was Edward's life) biography.

[Marcus Pailing · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just not very interested in Edward VI, otherwise I would have rated it higher. Very well written, and the author's academic credentials are impeccable ... but not my cup of tea. (But I had to read it, for research purposes.)

[Susan Abernethy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Link to my review of this book:

http://flhwnotesandreviews.com/2015/0...