Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London

by Nigel Jones

No building has been more intimately involved in the story of Britain than the Tower of London - a mighty, brooding stronghold in the very heart of the capital. Castle, prison, torture chamber, execution site, zoo, mint, treasure house, armoury, observatory: the Tower has been all these things and more, standing at the epicentre of dramatic, bloody and frequently cruel events for almost a thousand years.

Setting this dramatic story firmly in the context of national - and international - events, Nigel Jones's superb history portrays the Tower of London not just as an ancient structure but as a living symbol of the nation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, Historical, London, Royalty, European History

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

PEOPLE OF GOODREADS: It took me a year to finish this book, and even now I don't know whyyy.

There are a LOT of A+ factoids such as:
• King Harold II's body was so wrecked by his final battle that "only his mistress could recognize it by intimate 'certain indications.'"
• "King Henry VI vanished for more than a year, leaving behind only a few pathetic belongings, including his crown and a spoon."
• Samuel Pepys "had famously already taken the precaution of burying his most valued possessions, including a prized Parmesan cheese, in his garden."

The earlier chapters on the construction of the Tower and the expansion of the menagerie are fascinating. I tore through the eventful Tudor years, and understandably came to a grinding halt during James I's reign. The man is so boring (and apparently even weirder than I thought?). Many parts of this book are entertaining and shocking, but I think what I had the hardest time with was the writing. Nigel Jones introduces a lot of useless names and relationships, I think to set context, but it often ends up being a mind-boggling puzzle of who's who and why do I really care?

The structure can also be a little difficult because it's not chronological... which works for strong areas of focus like the menagerie, but for broad topics like great escapes and executions, the wheel of time becomes exhausting.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, and I would definitely recommend it if you're interested in the history of the Tower, but it may be a big time investment to sort through.

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[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book ever since I first saw it on the shelves of our local Barnes and Noble for $35. This being out of my price range, I frequently checked for it at Better World Books hoping to score a cheap used copy. Failing that, it went onto my most recent Christmas wish list, and this is where I found success.

Unfortunately, this book was not what I had built it up to be. I was envisioning a detailed description from beginning to end of the Tower of London with each renovation and royal use described. I thought that it would fill in gaps in my knowledge of British history because- what has taken place that the Tower has not been somehow involved?

One era that this held true for was the Civil War (1640-1660). This is not a time period that I have not read extensively about, so Jones' coverage of it was interesting. He also seemed to give information from the point of view of both Parliament and Royal followers of this time. (If someone knows more about these events and felt differently, please let me know. As I said, this is not an area of expertise for me.)

This unbiased reporting did not hold true for most of the book. Though the title is Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London, it possibly should be Tower: This Author's Opinion on Events Taking Place There. For the Plantagenet and Tudor reigns, Jones states what happened definitively with little reference to any other theories that may be held. For example, Richard III murdered not only his innocent little nephews but also Henry VI in true Shakespearean style. For any offended Plantagenet fans, he is just as ruthless and one-sided in his telling of Henry VII's & Henry VIII's tales. Jones' sources include several that I have read and I don't remember anyone having such certain information on these mysteries that have been made unsolvable by time. The final blow was that Jones ends his history with the beginning of Victoria's reign, other than a brief mention of some WWII spies who were executed there. Apparently nothing interesting happened at the Tower in the 1900s.

When you add to this opinionated history the fact that much of it was drawn out and boring while other sections skipped over entire reigns, I almost gave up on it . . . . but I couldn't. I had desired this book for so long with it's beautiful cover and intriguing title. I give it a rather generous 3 stars because 2 seems rather harsh. Just the anticipation of reading it was worth that much. I would recommend this book only to those who are looking for (what seemed to me to be) a summary of basic British history that is found in old text books.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed portions of this book (especially the history of the Tower menagerie and the chapter about great escapes from the Tower), but too much of it was given over to a chronological march through British history giving detailed general descriptions about each king or queen's reign but very little information actually directly related to the Tower. As a history buff, I'm already acquainted with the basic narrative of British history, and was frustrated to have to wade through basic history lessons to find the good tidbits and anecdotes about the Tower itself!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

You all know that I am a history buff, particularly when it comes to ancient and medieval cultures. As a result, it probably wouldn't be surprised to find out that I read and enjoyed this one. Built by William the Conqueror after becoming King of England and establishing his control over the country, the Tower of London has played a major role in the governing elite in Britain since its creation.

What is amazing is the varying roles it has played. Most people know about it being a prison and place of execution. And it is pretty much common knowledge that the crown jewels are held there. In reality, there is so much more to the tower's history than just those two details. For a great deal of time, the Tower hosted the national mint, and it also housed a menagerie (zoo) for hundreds of years. Until the Colonial Era, it was also a royal residence. It may even be haunted by ghosts, ranging from Queen Anne Boleyn to the two princes in the tower, who were killed by their uncle, King Richard the II, to Sir Walter Ralegh.

Jones does a great job of telling the story of the Tower by introducing the many characters and personalities who played a role in Tower history. It is probably not surpring that many of those people were either royals (or hopefuls), but they also were everyday people and even playwrights and poets. Each chapter in the book focuses either on a period time or a role the Tower plays. As a result, the book moves largely in chronological order, which makes it easy to see how the Tower evolved over time.

I do have to admit to struggling a bit with the book after James I, the first Stuart king, but that is likely because it was moving past the point in history that I am most interested in, rather than it being a shortcoming of the book itself.

My only major disappointment in the book is a lack of graphics. Ithink it would have been extremely helpful to have a series of family trees/genealogies to highlight how some of the royals were interconnected. There are so many cousins popping up (as well as distant relatives staking a claim on the throne) that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of their connects. Similarly, it would have been great to have a series of maps to show how the Tower changed through time with additions and deconstructions.

With that said, I found this to be a really interesting read, though probably not for those without a strong interest in the history of England/Britain or the time periods covered.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Jones rather lost the Tower quite frequently during detours through British history. Now, I realize that excursions through British history are necessary to understand events related directly to the Tower, but I did sometimes forget that the book was about the Tower at all. Now, I think it would be a good general introduction to British history only the book's format (thematic) and its consequent jumps back and forth in time would make it confusing for someone looking for an introduction.

[Edie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited to order this book and started it the minute I pulled it from the packaging. And then bit by bit I began finding things that just bothered me. Mr. Jones tends to relate how a person of the time felt and how they said things. It annoyed me at first until I hit the chapter "The Princes, The PRotector and The Prentenders" and he goes far into more detail about Richard III then needed to be related in order to drive home what a bloodthirsty "little" king he was. And of course the sneaky sentences contain words such as Buckingham "silkily" said, "greasy" Lovell, Catesby and Ratcliffe...ugh... Oh and how Thomas More said that the child Edward basically said that he hoped his uncle wouldn't kill him. Where in the history books does THAT statement appear? Only in Thomas More's material found after his death, that was written during the Tudoe era. Of course Richard III was evil to the Tudors. He had to be. I'm not one of those who blindly believes that Richard had nothing to do with the death of his nephews but no proof has been given that he had or that he ordered it OR that Henry VII didn't order it. Could Richard have done it? Yes! BUt don't state it as FACT.

And then the absolute killer for me was this: "Katherine herself, 'beautiful and godly to behold', was dressed in white satin with her dark hair hanging lose down her back..." So he's talking about Katherine of Aragon...who had RED hair. OR possibly golden red. She did NOT have dark hair. SO what else is going to be incorrect if something so well known is incorrect? I have no idea. I stopped reading the book and it goes into my "give away" pile.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, so much that I knew before I got half way through I would reread it very soon.

Written in an easy, straight forward, consistent style, with an amazing amount of information, it would be an ideal read for anyone who intends to visit the Tower, as well as anyone who loves history. I have visited the Tower and if I get the chance again I would get a lot more out of a second visit because of this book.

Clearly a lot of research has been invested in this book, 400 pages of solid information and no sign of any unecessary "fillers". I was reading this book well past bedtime some nights, and had to force myself to put it down.

Although the book has an excellent drawing/diagram of the Tower's layout, personally I would have liked a chart showing the relationships from monarch to monarch but that would be my only "gripe".

I am now intrigued to take a look at the authors other works.

[Sarah u · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inaccurate, sensationalist and silly. The only chapter with any historical merit is The Menagerie and the Mint, everything else is grossly exaggerated at best, hideously inaccurate at worst. I was sorely disappointed with this book.

[Amanda R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, such a disappointment.

Part of it was not the book's fault. What I'm really looking for is a history of the structure itself, and this is more a history of England as it relates to the Tower. The problem is that there was loads of minutiae about various reigns but a strange lack of detail about the Tower. Like, here are the thousand million things that this king did, oh and at some point they built another curtain wall, and also there was a palace in there for a minute, now more about the totally unrelated crap! He also mentions several times that the Garden Tower was later renamed the Bloody Tower, with no explanation of when or of what incident prompted that, despite a fairly detailed recounting of the murder of the two princes. There were tons of examples like this and it was maddening.

Also, the writing, while serviceable, is not great, and I found several weird errors throughout the book that could easily have been prevented with slightly better research. For example, Katherine of Aragon is described as having dark hair, which a lot of people assume she did since she was Spanish, but a quick glance at any of her portraits will tell you that her hair was red. Also, even I know that Edward IV's mistress was Elizabeth Shore, not Jane. Come on, man.

The other issue was the shorter chapters after the main history. Jones spends a lot of time on miniscule details that are only tangentially related to the tower, and only mentions in passing that a German spy was executed there in the '40s. You'd think that incident would warrant more than two sentences. I also would have appreciated much more detail about the ghosts of the Tower, since that place is apparently haunted af, and less about Samuel Pepys hitting on showgirls.

Overall, a very disappointing read and not particularly recommended.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/tower-by-nigel-jones/

It’s a rollicking good book on British political history between the construction of the Tower in the eleventh century, and its transformation from security asset to tourism spot in the nineteenth century, and how that affected the building – most often of course as a prison and place of execution for those who had fallen out with the state, but also as a centre of administration, in particular as the location of the Mint.

But the gore is the point. Two kings of England were murdered there in the late fifteenth century (Henry VI and Edward V). Two of Henry VIII’s queens were executed there (Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard). Thomas More ends up there. So does Samuel Pepys, for a while. Unfortunately Jones doesn’t mention either Sir John Perrot or my ancestor who was brought down in his wake.

I’d hoped for a little more. A book about the exercise of state coercive power and government-sanctioned violence could surely have interrogated these concepts a bit. There’s also a whole city outside the gates which underwent its own transformations – there are a couple of moments when the two intersect (the Peasants’ Revolt; the Great Fire) but otherwise thebook treats them rather separately. So it’s a good starting point, but I’m going to have to dig further.

[Fruzsina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is not much to add that other readers have not already said..

My biggest concern was the editing.
The book is divided into 2 parts. In the first one you read about the epic history of... the UK! (with some reference to the Tower) It takes up 2/3 of the book and either a) gives you too many details or b) takes your knowledge for granted in all details of British history.

The second part feels like an effort from the writer to add additional stories to the book which he found interesting but was not able to fit in the first part.

I found the end very abrupt, with dedicating 2 pages to the Tower's history after the 18th century, simply telling us that it became a tourist attraction.

I missed the insight to the construction, and the different stages of works throughout the years.
It was sad not to have any maps included.

I still learned a lot and did not regret reading the book, but would recommend it to those who want to get a taste of British history vs. learn everything there is about the Tower.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a history of Britain through the lens of the Tower, this book covers the lives and crimes of all its most famous residents, including the animals. My biggest annoyance with this book was the lack of any map of the Tower.

[Bobmillichamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recently finished reading Tower and was completely blown away. Mr Jones made history come alive as he told a history of post Norman England through the eyes of the Tower itself. The descriptions of the various occupants of the Tower were so vivid that the reader was almost transported back in time where we could almost be an eye witness to the events as they happened.

Mr Jones created a page turner which I had trouble putting down at night and actually cost me many hours of sleep. As I have always had an interest in English history this book awakened a desire to learn more about the many characters that have graced the pages of time. As a boy growing up in Somerset and going to school in Bridgwater I was always fascinated by the times and intrigues of the Monmouth rebellion and the violent aftermath which was so vividly and honestly described in this book.

Thank you for a great read.

Bob Millichamp
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

[Juliew. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a history of the Tower of London starting from the time it was built by William the Conquer to the twentieth century.It takes you through the reigns of each of England's kings and queens while describing how the tower was used by each monarch.Some rebuilt it,demolished it,lived in it and used it for war while others used it as a prison and torture chamber.Also discussed at length are the many famous prisoners that have passed through over the centuries.Gossipy and biased at points I felt the book was not focused enough on the tower itself and went too much into the politics and histories of the rulers themselves.However,I still enjoyed it and it's worth a read for someone with an interest in British history.

[Brenda Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining account of the goings-on in The Tower throughout the ages. It was interesting to read about the many people who tried to escape from the infamous tower. My favorite was the man who successfully escaped disguised as a woman. You also find out about the MANY political prisoners who were held and beheaded because they backed the wrong king or just got on their monarch's bad side. The worst king in my opinion was James I;what a terrible person. Anyway if you love reading about British royalty and history, you will enjoy this book!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, at times heavy on details and other times light. The language style is very sensational, but that is not unusual for history books these days. While I was familiar with many of the stories (much of it centered in the medieval time period), there was plenty I had not heard before. I wasn't a fan of the way the chapters were split up, with there being a lot of seemingly needless jumping around. Overall, a ton of information written in an engaging fashion.

[Rose Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, he does tell the story of the Tower of London vividly, but I stopped when he got to Richard III. He has evidently swallowed the Kool-Aid of the Richard-haters. He didn't even try to be subtle about it. So I quit reading.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly engaging, vividly detailed and richly layered epic history that is as much a history of England as it as about the infamous Tower of London.

[Janette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts were good--others not so much. A ton of British history...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fiction snob, I was honestly and very pleasantly amazed by how much I enjoyed this book. So often I feel as though reading nonfiction is a chore, something I make myself do to so that I can say I'm well-rounded, but this book swept me up and along. I loved reading all the little stories of different people who'd lived in and around the tower--Jones definitely tells a good story, and the Tower of London has more than its fair share of them. Definitely changed my whole outlook on the place that I (like so many others) associate almost exclusively with torture and beheadings.

That said, it's a good thing I have a little bit of familiarity with historical British royalty and nobility (albeit via historical fiction and - worse! - Shakespeare), because otherwise I would have been completely confused--and still was, in parts--about who was who. I'm surprised that the book does not include any family trees for the different houses--but then, I guess this isn't a book that you'd be likely to pick up if you didn't already have some familiarity. Even if it did essentially end up being a history of the British monarchy (in no small part because the Tower was actually a lived-in palace for much longer than I thought!), it was fascinating and overall well-done, and I'm glad I had the lens of the Tower through which to focus such a daunting history.

It would have been nice to have some maps--the tower went through so many different phases over the years and I didn't have much of any idea where any of the towers were--and I've been lucky enough to visit! Perhaps it was too expensive to get the rights or hire an artist? And why were the (largely unnecessary) images they did have inserted between pages 312 and 313? Isn't the traditional place smack dab in the middle?

The structure of the book itself was also a little odd. I didn't understand why there were two Parts - why not three or four? Or none? While the text was, overall, chronological, chapters like "The Menagerie and the Mint" and "Great Escapes" stopped the show to span most of the Tower's history. The latter chapter spoke quite a bit about Charles II's rule before dropping us back off with James I in the following chapter.

While a bit perplexing, these detours didn't detract from the book. I do wish there had been a bit more detail about the tower between the mid 1800s and the 2000s--I know the blood and death was mostly over, but it seems like there would still be some interesting stories about what happened to the archives, for example, or anything that was found during renovations to make the place suitable for tourists. A bit more about the history of the beefeaters, perhaps. Basically, I didn't want it to end!

This book was so much fun that there were quite a few things and people I'd love to read more about in the future, provided someone has written about them. To that end, in and among the quotes in my round up there will also be the names of people marked IRAWBAT--or, "I'd Read A Whole Book About Them". Enjoy!

16) Isabella of Angouleme and Maud Fitzwalter - IRAWBAT
As with Henry VIII, it interested me that King John respected Maud's refusal to become his mistress. I feel like rape is so ubiquitous these days--in our culture and in our media representations of the past--that the idea of a man respecting a woman's decision about her body seems almost, well, quaint. So she died in agony...but no one violated her bodily autonomy by torturing her so persionally. That's pretty sick isn't it? When did that attitude change?

32) Given the limited space at the Tower, species were crammed uncomfortably close together, living cheek by beak, so to speak...
...the Tower's cramped confines offended a public awakening to a new fellow feeling for our furred and feathered friends.
Jones had far too much fun on this page!

Having loved the Hollow Crown so much and absorbed the second Henriad last year, it was fascinating to me to find out just how truly terrible some of the kings of England were--not in that they were actively bad (and boy was Henry VIII worse than I thought!), but that they had no idea what they were doing.

84) One plotter, Sir Thomas Blount, not being a peer, was denied the privilege of a swift beheading and endured the full horrors of a traitor's death [hanged, drawn, and quartered]... Asked if he wanted a drink, he replied with a magnificent death's door jest, "No, for I should not know where to put it."
Talk about gallows humor! Apparently torture to the death brings out the joker in quite a few people.

87) Again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the realities of Shakespeare's plays.

87) Margaret Merssh - IRAWBAT
The wife of the Tower blacksmith was a qualified blacksmith in her own right, doing both the more delicate work and equipping the Tower for its best known usage: "eighteen pairs of fetters and eight pairs of manacles."

130) The future Richard III's murder of King Henry VI was the least secret conspiracy ever. Like, everyone knew about it. Also, I need to find a book about the forensics of the British kings and queens, cause there's a lot of interesting stuff going on with the bones.

133) Duke of Clarence is cray cray. More importantly, I need to play with the idea that "imagining" meant attempting to bring about by magic--because as scary as it was then, it's a really cool concept to consider now!

159) Lambert Simnel - IRAWBAT

206) Anne Askew - ARAWBAT - as Jones puts it, "a sixteenth-century feminist." One thing that struck me several times was just how early ideas about equality were around--we tend to think of them as very modern, but they're not--it just took that long for the people in charge to stop killing the people who protested. Think how different the world could have been if someone like Anne Askew had succeeded.

214) Jones describes Henry VIII as "England's Stalin", which I find incredibly apt. In all the historical fiction I've read about his wives, his cruelty to the common people somehow gets swept under the rug. Maybe because fiction books tend to get the reader caught up in the stories of individuals.

218) I really appreciated Jones's handling of Jane Grey. The one book I read that was specifically about her was by Ann Rinaldi, and it definitely treated her like a dimwit. Learning that she lived with Elizabeth for a while, that she was well-self-educated, made me respect her much more than Rinaldi's story did. I feel even more cheated now than when I first finished "Nine Days a Queen". It seems to have been much more influenced by the famous portrait that Jones discusses (243) as being so false to who Jane was than by the records Jones found of her efforts to self educate and, once crowned, make decisions for herself. So yeah, Lady Jane Grey - IRAWBAT.

228) I also had no idea how independent Edward VI was, despite his youth - IRAWBAT.

286) Recognized a few names from (and I'm sure this was the intention) The Sandman: the "Wizard Earl" Henry Percy, the School of Night, and, of course, John Dee. IRAWBAT

289) At first, wishing to keep his friend [the king's lover Robert Carr, over whom he had great influence and who, in turn, influenced the king] happy, Thomas Overbury encouraged the dalliance [with Frances Howard]. A gifted writer, Overbury even penned he love letters that Carr sent to Frances. When it dawned on him that the couple wanted to marry, however, Overbury reverted to violent opposition, as he could see himself losing his hold over his feeble friend, who would become a creature of the Howard clan. ... He wrote a best-selling tract, The Wife, proving why Frances would be an unsuitable spouse to his friend [Carr].
As deadly (literally) serious as this all is, I couldn't help laughing over this comedy of errors. The absurdity of the love triangle feels so much like modern fiction, down to Overbury's book becoming a bestseller--like something I'd read in a book like "Gone Girl" or "Swamplandia!".

291) Overbury is as hard to kill as Rasputin. IRAWBAT. Also, Anne Turner and Gervase Elwes - IRAWBAT.

296) It may have been the weight of accumulate strain and guilt over Overbury, or just the discovery in the Tower's cramped confines that a little love goes a very long way, but soon the earl and countess discovered that they could not stand each other. The silence of the Bloody Tower was split by screaming rows, and before long the pair were cohabiting no more.
Except for the fact that this is real and someone died...it's kind of funny. Talk about getting your comeuppance.

309) Queen Isabella, "the She-wolf of France" - IRAWBAT.

317) John Oldcastle, somehow the inspiration for Falstaff despite the fact that their only similarity is that they were both friends with King Henry V - IRAWBAT.

323) Nicholas Owen, diminutive architect of ingenious priest holes - IRAWBAT. Also, I finally know why they're called priest holes.

354) Lady Nithsdale, possessor of a wicked awesome name and heaps of nerve, and escape planner extraordinaire - IRAWBAT.

380) Great Fire of London -A.K.A. that time the Tower managed to not blow up in part because surrounding houses were blown up before the fire could reach them - IRAWBAT.

408) Strongly suspect that the botched beheading of the Duke of Monmouth inspired Nearly Headless Nick. "Only" five blows and a saw with a kitchen knife, but horribly painful to think about.

Somewhere in there I read that William Penn was held at the Tower before eventually being bailed out, at which point he went off the found Pennsylvania. Fun fact!

417) The radical MP John Wilkes, though spectacularly ugly, with cross eyes, snaggle teeth and a massive jaw, was a successful ladies' man who boasted that he could talk away his look within minutes.
I am horridly fascinated. IRAWBAT

[Kt Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I was so excited by this book. I am lucky enough to frequent the Tower on my working holiday in London and wanted to pick up some interesting history to share with people I went with . I had tabs and everything to refer back to.

The first few chapters were fine but it all fell apart when we reached Richard III and the Princes in the Tower. I’ve recently become very interested in his reign and so have read almost everything I could on it. I’ve formed my own opinion on what happened to those boys but that is as far as it could go as it is impossible to solve the mystery.

Well, Nige can, and if you believe him, he has. But one problem, he relies on the work of Thomas More, who was not an eyewitness account, was writing many years after Richard’s reign, relied on dodgy sources and embellished to further Tudor propaganda. I was horrified to realise that Nigel had not only analysed his sources incorrectly, he was spouting conjecture and presenting it as fact. I find it dangerous and irresponsible to mislead his readers, particularly those who don’t know about the period of history too well and will take his account as fact.

I couldn’t read further, and judging from some of the reviews here, it looks like it’s the right choice. The tabs have been taken out and the book will remain on the shelf. Life is too short to read lazy writing.

[Erin Zelnio · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t go on after the author referred to Henry VIII as “England’s Stalin.” I was tempted to give this book only one star, but, believe it or not, I have read histories that were worse.

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of editorializing when it comes to popular history, so long as it doesn’t go overboard. And yes, many of people the author discuss were—by all our standards and maybe even a few of their own—pretty awful. However, the author goes too far, becoming more and more salacious with each page. On page 208, he has the nerve to assert his claim that Rich and Wriothesley may have been sexual sadists is as legitimate as any other conclusion. There are no footnotes, no endnotes, and the bibliography is unconventional and unprofessional. There is no way to check his claims without slogging through his “Works Consulted”. Considering I have, in fact, read quite a few of the books he chats about in the back pages, I’m confident I won’t miss anything groundbreaking by resigning this to my crap shelf unfinished.

If you want a decent survey of the history of England, I recommend looking to the likes of Peter Ackroyd, Dan Jones, and Simon Schama.

[Patti Procopi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love London and it's history and have probably toured the Tower of London a dozen times - if not more! So I was excited to read this "Epic" history of the Tower. It was well-written and incredibly well-researched but the reason I only gave it 3 stars are as follows -
1. There needed to be illustrations of the Tower as it was constructed. First it was just one fort, then more was added on, taken away, etc. The author constantly refers to the various towers in his narrative and it would have been nice to be able to look at a drawing and say - oh yes - that's there and this is here.
2. This book was, in my opinion, written for an English audience - not an American one. Too many things were "assumed" that the reader would have some idea what was going on - who was who and what was what. Another annoying thing that happens in all books about English royalty/nobility is people have more than one name - Charles Brandon AKA The Duke of Suffolk. Sometimes referred to as Brandon, sometimes as Suffolk. Also since titles are hereditary the endless numbers of Dukes of Norfolk, etc. make one's eyes roll back in one's head.
But I certainly learned a lot!

[Bill Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as part of the research for a novel I'm writing. It filled the bill perfectly in that regard, but I was enthralled by the story Nigel Jones wove. Many times when I'm looking for specific information, I skip from place to place, but I have to admit I read this one cover to cover and enjoyed every minute.
Okay, I'll agree with other reviewers that it had a lot of names and a lot of dates, but as a history buff and a great lover of London, I found it very interesting. After all, a lot of important people were imprisoned in the Tower and many of those were executed there. I enjoyed Inwood's "A History of London" and Ackroyd's "London: A Biography" and this one was just as entertaining and captivating for me.
There's a lot of British history in here, and how could a book about the tower not be filled with it? I highly recommend the book.

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess when a building has been around for almost a thousand years then it has some stories to tell.

Most people know the Tower of London for all the people who were jailed there. There were quite a few! But other than being a jail, the Tower of London was also a menagerie, the treasury, a mint, armory, public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. Oh, there also might be two princes who were murdered and buried somewhere in the Tower. Oh, those cheeky English.

The book could be very dry if it just listed all the things the Tower has been, but Jones makes as much of a narrative out of it as possible. Instead of just telling about these events, Jones ties them to the famous people associated with them. Specifically, Isaac Newton was head of the English Mint for years and was even smarter than I knew.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

If places hold memories, than the Tower of London is one of the most haunted. Jones tells the story of feudal England to the 20th century through the Tower’s turrets and walls. It’s a fascinating site that has gone through various iterations. A fortress, a home, a prison, a mint, a treasury, an armory and, on more than occasion, a murder scene. The men and women who have walked through its gates have been some of the most colorful in British history.

At times, the writing seems disjointed and cobbled together as Jones jumps from event to event. But it’s a minor complaint. He tells the Tower’s story with familiar ease and his retelling of events and anecdotes is anything but dry. More blood-soaked and slippery.

[Coby · Rating 4 out of 5]

1000 years of history of the Tower of London cover the building of the Tower as a safe residence of the kings, it's use as an armory, the English/British mint, the first English zoo, the home of the Crown jewels, and most spectacularly as the world's most famous and possibly bloodiest prison. What began life as a secure residence for the kind of England eventually became the most secure place for political prisoners for most of its history. The last executions took place during WWII. Jones also discussed the effect of the Tower on the English over the years and it's final transformation from prison to tourist attraction in the 19th century as the religious and political wars of the centuries ceased.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was sorely disappointed in this book. The first couple of chapters started out strong but from his chapter on the Wars of the Roses through to Henry VII are based solely on author’s opinions of events and his tendency to believe rumor and speculation as fact. I stopped reading when he made the statement that the Earl of Warwick, right before he died cursed the Tudors so that from then on no heirs male would grow to manhood and the author then says “whether apocryphal or not, the prophecy would come true.” Hello! Henry VIII grew into manhood and reigned for many years.
I don’t recommend this book, and my copy will be going in the next garage sale.

[Catherine McClelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though a really fun read, I can't get give book more then three stars because the author gets confused about some of the monarchs and what happens when. I also don't like the authors biases against say Henry VIII and Charles I.

Also when the author talks about the execution of King Charles I he gives a name of the executioner. Well, it is pretty well established that the name of Charles's executioner is lost to history due impart to the fact the regular executioner would not kill his King so a substitute had to be found.

[Brett Van Gaasbeek · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is really just a history of the English monarchy from William the Conqueror to the modern age with casual references to the actual structure or detailed (and dull) discussions about the architectural or decorative additions to the original structure. Not very engaging and there are much better histories of the Kings and Queens of Europe (consult Dan Jones, for example) than this one. Kind of disappointing.