'David Starkey tours England's monarchical horizon with gusto.'

'Excellent...This is Starkey at his fluent and entertaining
best.'

'Starkey is never dull...this book...is vivid, lucid and
engaging...a very enjoyable book.'

'...compelling narrative...lucid analysis...nowhere is there to be
found a better...summary of the Glorious Revolution of 1688...'

'the best short history of England written since J.R.Green in the
1870s...'

To coincide with the Channel 4 series to be aired at the end of this year -- David Starkey's 'Monarchy' charts the rise of the British monarchy from the War of the Roses, the English Civil War and the Georgians, right up until the present day monarchs of the 20th Century. David Starkey's magisterial new book Monarchy charts the rise of the British crown from the insurgency of the War of the Roses, through the glory and dangers of the Tudors, to the insolvency of the Stuarts and chaos of the English Civil War, the execution of Charles I, the rule of a commoner who was 'king in all but name', the importing of a German dynasty, and the coming-to-terms with modernity under the wise guidance of another German, Victoria's Prince Consort Albert. An epilogue brings to story up to the present and asks questions about the future. The crown of England is the oldest surviving political institution in Europe. And yet, throughout this book Starkey emphasises the Crown's endless capacity to reinvent itself to circumstances and reshape national polity whilst he unmasks the personalities and achievements, the defeats and victories, which lie behind the kings and queens of British history.

Each of these monarchs has contributed, in their own way, to the religion, geography, laws, language and government that we currently live with today. In this book,Starkey demonstrates exactly how these states were arrived at, how these monarchs subtly influenced each other, which battles were won and why, whose whim or failure caused religious tradition to wither or flourish, and which monarchs, through their acumen and strength or single minded determination came to enforce the laws of England. With his customary authority and verve, David Starkey reignites these personalities to produce an entertaining and masterful account of these figures whose many victories and failures are the building blocks upon which Britain today is built. Far more than a biography of kings and queens, Monarchy is a radical reappraisal of British nationhood, culture and politics, shown through the most central institution in British life.

David Starkey is the Honorary Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and
the author of many books including "Elizabeth", "The Six Wives", "The
Stuart Courts". A winner of the W. H. Smith Prize and the Norton Medlicott
Medal for Services to History presented by Britain's Historical
Association, and is a well-known and established television and radio
personality. David Starkey lives in London.

2007-10-08 Disappointing

Having admired Mr Starkey's previous works both the written word and his televison work, I found this book very disappointing. Rather than a detailed history of our Royal Houses from the middle ages what he gave us was just a bland and non discript overview. There was no passion in his writing and he did reveal anything new about the various kings and queens that we didn't already know. There were parts of the book which I found interesting but then just pittered out and went onto the monarch's successor without fully exploring his subject.
Mr Starkey obviously loves his subject matter, it is just a pity he didn't do justice to it this time around.