Henry III: The Great King England Never Knew It Had

by Darren Baker

Henry III (1207-1272) reigned for 56 years, the longest-serving English monarch until the modern era. Admired for his building projects like Westminster Abbey, he is dismissed by scholars as weak and inept. This biography shows that he was in fact a more than capable ruler. Crowned as a boy, scarred by civil war, he strove to be a good king, but his increasingly insular barons and clergy constantly thwarted his plans to make England a cosmopolitan center. Their  resentfulness led to a palace revolution that checked his power. He would have clawed it all back were it not for one man, Simon de Montfort. Yet somehow Henry survived, as he always had, through the remarkable 13th century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature

416 pages, Hardcover

Published October 26, 2017

About the author

Darren Baker is a translator and historian who took his degree at the University of Connecticut. He currently lives in the Czech Republic.

Reviews

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A detailed, chronological account of the life of one of the least-famous kings of England, who ruled for more than half of the 13th century. It focuses very tightly on Henry, and there were times when I wished for a slightly wider perspective, but that is probably due to my unfamiliarity with this particular era.

Henry was the son of the infamous John (of Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame) and the father of Edward I (Longshanks). Henry is most well known for his battles with Simon de Montfort over the constitutional rule of England.

I found the author’s writing style uneven. It’s mostly scholarly and straightforward, but sometimes he drops jarringly into a casual tone, such as with the book’s subtitle. He also does not give his sources for his assumptions about Henry’s personality. Just as an example, he says Henry had a “mystical side that drew him, not surprisingly, to the number three”, without describing any evidence for this.

[S.Baqer Al-Meshqab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Gayla Bassham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have often said that if George W. Bush had just become a baseball commissioner, he would have led a happier if relatively more obscure life and spared the country an absolute disaster of a presidency. Having read this book, I can say with some confidence that Henry III was much the same case. He was born to be an artist. If only fate had not intervened and made him king at the age of nine, he might have been a happier man, and England might have been the better for it.

I admit that I struggled a bit with this book. Perhaps I should have chosen a different Henry III biography (and yes, I realize I read four books about Alfred the Great, but I do not have the same investigative zeal for poor Henry). Baker tries to highlight Henry III's virtues -- and there were many -- but he fails to make his case that Henry III was a great king. Honestly, he seemed like a hot mess to me, constantly running out of money and frequently erupting in fits of pique. (I do appreciate his contributions to Westminster Abbey, however.) The book does not feel well-organized and the story is not well-told; I often lost track of who, exactly, Henry was angry with this time. I realize it is not Baker's fault that everyone in this time period seems to have been named Henry, Richard, Edward, or Eleanor, but I wish he had worked harder to differentiate between the many different people at play here.

Did I learn a lot? Yes, although sometimes in spite of the author. But I'm guessing there are better Henry III biographies out there.

[Jeremy Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this three stars because I found it a bit of a slog although perhaps that is the best endorsement of the author's central thesis. Henry III was a great king because he was essentially boring (!)

In contrast to his father John, uncle Richard or son Edward I, Henry III loved the arts, tended to favour politicking or diplomacy over war and arguably was too accomodating to the demands of his nobles. In contrast to successors like Edward II or Richard II, there were also no tawdry tales of Gavestons or Despensers and no scandalous depositions.

The book therefore unpacks in rather astonishing details the political machinations of a king who really set about ruling his land to the best of his ability, far longer than any other British monarch up until the modern era. I guess competence can be a bit of a snooze. Still worth a read though as a fascinating counterpoint to his contemporaries.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read many biographies of historical figures, but this one was intriguing due to its subject being one of the lesser known rulers of England, Henry III. If you're looking for a book about a king who leads a scandalous life with mistresses and illegitimate children or a great warrior king, you'll find yourself disappointed. What you will find is the story of a king who made his mark in English history through his struggles with the barons throughout his rule, love of architecture, and reputation as a family man. The author did a good job portraying the conflict with Henry and Simon de Montfort, his biggest rival. Readers are given insight into the evolution of the English parliament. I appreciated the educational experience that came with reading this book. However, I found that the author did tend to provide historical details that didn't really have a whole lot to do with Henry or could have been said in a few sentences as opposed to paragraphs to get to the point of how they tied back to Henry. Some of the sentences were a bit long for my taste.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[June · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am an avid reader of biographies which deal with history of the monarchy, and I especially love those written by Antonia Fraser, so I was very excited to start this book by Darren Baker. However, despite the glowing comments on the back cover of the book being ‘enterprising’ and ‘engaging’, I found that, sadly, this was very heavy-going. To give the book a chance, I read half of it (about 170 pages) but this thick book made up of 350-odd pages of small type hits you with fact after fact - with no illustrations or anything to break up the facts - making the text very hard to digest, follow, or engage with. I would start off reading (and trying to digest) the information, but after a matter of minutes, I consistently ended up skimming paragraphs trying to find information of interest that could possibly re-spark my reading again. Now, I hate skimming an author's work, as I see it as disrespectful of their time, energy, and intelligence, but I felt that I needed to quickly find something I could catch onto to regain my interest. Sadly, this interesting information didn’t present itself by page 170 and so I gave up - something I very rarely do. There is no doubt that the author has carried out intelligent research and knows what he is writing about, but it was just a bit too dense for me, at the particular point in time that I was reading the book.

I will return to this book and give it another go, and will update this review when I have done so.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Netgalley for review:

I read a lot of historical biographies, it is probably my favorite thing to read nowadays. You know, the author is right, Henry III really doesn't get much love in the history books, he doesn't get derided but completely forgotten about. Most writers want to tell the stories of the more 'lively' characters from English history, giving a pass to those who tried to restore the much needed status quo. Henry III ruled in a time of political conflict, but it was nothing compared to the mess left by his predecessors, he is very pious but not as much so as Edward the Confessor, and let us face it, he is not as interesting as his son Edward I. But, this is not a review of Henry III, it is a review of the book.

Overall I liked it, a lot of the book reads like a run-on sentence, which mostly I didn't mind but at times it did make me glaze over a bit. I liked the bit of wit and sarcasm peppered in the book, it made me chuckle quite a few times while reading. One thing I found a little odd was the author's use of the term alien instead of foreigner, not sure why as I know it is correct but it seemed overly formal or technical in a book that read more casually the rest of the time.

Other than those complaints I say give it a read if you have an interest in a part of English history that tends to get overlooked!

[Michael Bully · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have only recently started reading up on Henry III . Found this book intense and demanding, not so much due to its style but rather my own lack of knowledge made me re- read several sections Obviously with such a long reign, there are many people to write about and events to explain. . Well foot noted and will read the book again in the near future. And keep as a reference work. Not sure if I would recommend it to someone as their first biography of Henry III.
Like other reviewers, I am not sure about the title 'Great' . Henry's reign saw massive taxation , unsuccessful war with France and of course the war with Simon de Montfort and other rebel barons in 1265- 1266. The actual battles of Evesham and Lewes are not dealt with in any great detail.
The author stresses what he regards as Henry's qualities, charity , art, culture. building projects including Westminster Abbey.

[Monty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of an English king’s struggles with his subjects at home as well as allies and enemies abroad. Well told story with interesting tidbits of detail that explain the everyday life of an English king.

[Simon Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable and comprehensive biography of this rather unknown king - his nemesis Montfort is probably better known nowadays than he is - the author deals very well w england but also the wider European world. As is usually the case w English medieval history, a caste of utter villains.

[Tim Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something of a tough read. Darren Baker is no Dan Jones when it comes to telling the tale. But a detailed book of the reign of a much maligned monarch.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. A well-researched slog.

[Bodine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an intense read as Henry III reigned in an era I'm not too familiar with. And a lot happens in 56 years.

Still very interesting and I am intrigued to read more about those that predeceeded and succeeded him.

[Karin]

The book is well written and researched...and like almost all historical books that are, it gets tedious in places and I found myself making notes as to who was who and what was wht....It is well worth taking the time to read and gives great insight into Henry III