A King & Queen of England NF Book Challenge For Myself

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sat December 25th, 2010, 4:33 am

It may take awhile, but I'm going to try to read a book about each ruling King and Queen of England.

If people are willing I need suggestions on good books on each monarch.

Please post the suggestions here or PM me.

Thanks!

SM

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sat December 25th, 2010, 4:55 am

Here are a few - if you don't mind them being mostly about kings and queens during the time before they made it to the throne:

Henry V - A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury by Edith Pargeter
Edward IV and Richard III - The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Elizabeth I - Young Bess and Elizabeth, Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sat December 25th, 2010, 4:56 am

[quote=""Margaret""]Here are a few - if you don't mind them being mostly about kings and queens during the time before they made it to the throne:

Henry V - A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury by Edith Pargeter
Edward IV and Richard III - The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Elizabeth I - Young Bess and Elizabeth, Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin[/quote]

Thanks, I think I should've specified that I was looking for nonfiction books

My problem is that I just did a cursory search and some of the books are too expensive

This might not go well!

SM

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sat December 25th, 2010, 6:20 am

Edward I: A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris.

Edward II: Edward II by Seymour Phillips (it's pricey, but there really aren't any good alternatives other than the equally pricey bio by Roy Haines, except for P. C. Doherty's Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II, which has to be taken with a grain of salt at times)

Edward III: The Perfect King by Ian Mortimer

Henry IV: The Fears of Henry IV by Ian Mortimer. Covers a lot about Richard II as well.

(Ian Mortimer has also written about Henry V in 1415: Henry V's Year of Glory but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.)

Henry VI: Ralph Griffiths' bio. Consult your chiropractor before lifting this one.

Edward IV: Edward IV by Charles Ross. There's also an interesting book called Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses by David Santiuste which focuses on his military career.

Richard III: A.J. Pollard, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower

Henry VII: S. B. Chrimes wrote the major biography of him. Sean Cunningham has also written about him in the new Routledge series.

Henry VIII: I have Richard Rex's short book about him on my TRB pile. I enjoyed David Starkey's Henry: Virtuous Prince.

Edward VI: Jennifer Loach's bio.

Mary Tudor: Linda Porter's or Anna Whitlock's bios.

Elizabeth I: I'm enjoying flipping through David Loades' bio of her. I recently enjoyed Elizabeth's Women by Tracy Borman, which focuses on the important women in her life.

(I was going to add my favorites about Lady Jane Grey. Then I remembered whom I was posting to.

)

I liked Katie Whitaker's Royal Passion, about the marriage of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. Also We Two about Victoria and Albert by Gillian Gill and Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams. I have Jenny Uglow's A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game on my TBR pile.

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Sat December 25th, 2010, 9:25 pm

Edward VI--Chris Skidmore

I 2nd the new (to the US) biog. on Mary Tudor by Anna Whitelock and Kate Whitaker's Royal Passion.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sat December 25th, 2010, 9:33 pm

Right now all my royalty books are in boxes because of a construction project. When I can get to them, I can probably add a few more. A few that come to mind are George III by Christopher Hibbert, Charles II by Antonia Fraser, and King George V by Harold Nicolson.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sun December 26th, 2010, 7:05 am

My problem is that I just did a cursory search and some of the books are too expensive This might not go well!

There's always the library - or are you one of those unfortunate souls whose local library is rudimentary and doesn't do interlibrary loans?

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sun December 26th, 2010, 6:37 pm

[quote=""Margaret""]There's always the library - or are you one of those unfortunate souls whose local library is rudimentary and doesn't do interlibrary loans?[/quote]

Yeah, me and the island library don't mix, it's not really a viable option for me.

Well one ruler at a time then, and we'll see how far I get. But William the Conqueror will have to wait until the new year before I get a book on him!

SM

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Sun December 26th, 2010, 7:00 pm

Thomas B Costain (better known for his novels The Black Rose and the Silver Chalice) did a series of four books on the Plantagenets way back and another of William the Conqueror. I don't know how well they hold up to modern research, but I remember enjoying them when I read them in the eighties.

William the Conqueror a Landmark book (1959)
The Plantagenets series (also known as The Pageant of England)

* The Conquering Family (1949)
* The Magnificent Century (1951)
* The Three Edwards (1958)
* The Last Plantagenets (1962)

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Mon December 27th, 2010, 12:47 pm

The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George is an excellent read.