The Three Edwards

Rating:
Summary: A Kingly Piece of Literature!
Review: Costain combines an eye for detail and accuracy in a very readable style

Rating:
Summary: Great and not-so-great Kings
Review: Costain does a great job with this overview of the first named Edwards to lord it over the English throne. From the fierce but just Edward I ("Hammer of the Scots") to the effete and ineffectual Edward II to the long-reigning and erratic Edward III, the author sustains our interest with anecdotes and thorough reporting of the times. Costain has a delightful habit of suddenly focusing on a historical figure one doesn't generally hear about and then presenting the reader with yet another biography to get excited about. Well done, well written. well read.

Rating:
Summary: Accessible history
Review: This is one of a quartet that Costain wrote describing the monarchs and key events in European history from William the Conqueror to the War of the Roses. The history is accurate. It is always clear where Costain is speculating and where he is drawing on traditional sources, such as the various chronicles of the era. However, he weaves them together so smoothly that the reader needs concern her/himself with documentation only when it pleases. Costain is first and foremost a good story teller and an elegant writer.