A Brief History of the British Monarchy

The British monarchy is at a turning point. Concise and engaging, A Brief History of the British Monarchy charts the very beginnings of British reign through to the longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and looks forward to the reign of King Charles III.

Much more than a linear history, this is the intertwined story of royalty and state, of divisions, invasions, rivalries, death and glory; the story of national fates deeply tied with the personal endeavours of monarchs through the ages.

Jeremy Black expertly weaves together thematic chapters from the origins of monarchy, medieval times and sixteenth-century developments, to the crises of the seventeenth-century, settlement and imperialism, and the challenges of the modern age.

Exploring the House of Wessex, the Norman Conquest, Henry VIII and the Tudors, Victorianism, and key events such as the abdication of Edward VIII, this book is a necessary and comprehensive guide to the British Monarchy and how it has shaped history—and our lives today.