Kings & Queens of England: A royal history from Egbert to Elizabeth II

by Nigel Cawthorne

Kings & Queens of England is an entertaining account of the larger-than-life characters that have ruled England through the ages. Divided into easy-reference chapters based on the ruling dynasties of England, it follows the fascinating history of monarchs from the first Saxon kings to the Windsors of the present day.

Author Nigel Cawthorne paints vivid portraits of a mixed bunch of rulers ranging from the drunken and debauched merry monarch Charles II to the idealized domesticity and colonial ambition of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

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

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[Lisa - *OwlBeSatReading* · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okayish read, but I'm pretty sure there was a few inaccuracies that caught my attention which is a bit annoying! For example on page 72 there's an article titled 'Robert the Bruce', when in fact it was about Richard II and Wat Tyler which had me saying 'eh?! Hang on, what's going on here?!'

So, admittedly, I didn't read the entire book. I would say I skim read about half, but read everything that captured my interest. I particularly liked the Gunpowder Plot and the chapters about The Tudors, which is my favourite era of British royal history.

Starting off from the first Saxon King, Egbert, in 802 and running all the way through until present day Windsors (up to the birth of Princes William and Henry (Harry)) I'd say this was an interesting read for any fan of British History and Royalty. There are lots of black and white photographs throughout too which I always enjoy, I do like a picture book as a change from just pages and pages of writing.

Overall, a solid 3 stars 🌟🌟🌟

[Theresa Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of England's rulers with each section giving the reader a just-right amount of information. Enjoyable and made me want to read more about certain monarchs and events.

[Eya G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good general overview of the history of England's monarchy, however the text is too condensed and reads like a run-on sentence.

[Bob Sagadin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the Box features intermingled with the text disruptive and often redundant.

[Anna Schoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be interesting, informative, and thought that it provided a good overview of the Kings and Queens of England. I read it to brush up on English history and expand on my knowledge of the monarchy. I particularly enjoyed learning about the earlier Kings and Ladies of England because I did not know that much about them. My criticisms are that there were obvious errors such as two of the spotlight texts being titled "Ireland" when one was about the Americas and the other was about Scotland. Another criticism was that I think it left out some important pieces of history, particularly in the more recent Kings and Queens. However, I would recommend this as a good overview and introductory read about the Kings and Queens of England.

[Katrina Balle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great quick reference of English history.

[Desmond Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basis for further research

This book is a solid addition to any library and a great start for further research on the monarchy. Recommended.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read a bit like a textbook. 2.5 stars bumped up to 3 because I was interested, mostly.

[Benjamin Tishler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this book I normaly am not a huge reading fan but I really like this book and I am and plan to put personal time in to this book especaly for someone interestad in history like me. I have read the comments and have heard there are quite a few errors in the book and although I know the overall view of English history but don't now most of the details so I probily won't be able to know wheither there is an error or not.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

although this is a nice and quick read, a lot of the histories are actually rather biased by common historical conjecture and in many cases just plan wrong. being an avid reader concerning all things European monarchy it was easy to pick up on but if i were new to this topic i would have walked away with some misconceptions and inaccuracies.

[Wendi Ballew · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10 Stars. Decent, but overly brief overview of England's monarchs. A lot of errors present in the text, perhaps the editors were drunk... Also certain "facts" are presented that are in actuality nothing but unsubstantiated rumor. Besides all the errors, an adequate introduction to the monarchy of England.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good read that at only a couple hundred pages can be easily read in a weekend by any anglophile. As a survey, each history isn't much more than a trowel deep but it does provide the reader the opportunity to have a taste of a millennium of royal history.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - it was rather dry at times but thorough and mostly interesting. It had a lot of great pictures and interesting sidebars on things like the plague, the Field of the Cloth of Gold etc.

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations and good text (if somewhat repetitive). A good source if you want a quick overview of English Monarchs.

[Catherine Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic book with some glaring errors, page 72 talks about Richard II. and Wat Tyler, but the page is headed "Robert the Bruce". That being said, it has many very nice illustrations.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable history. The many editorial errors were disconcerting, however.