The Kings and Queens of England: A Tourist Guide

Rating:
Summary: favorable
Review: A few years ago, I decided I wanted to learn more about the royal history of England. I uncovered Jane Murray's book on a dusty lower shelf of a bookcase, opened it, and, for the next few hours, thought of nothing but reading this wonderful book. The book is different from the beginning; rather than starting her narrative with the little-known history of Edward the Confessor, she begins with the reigning monarch and works back through history, going from the present day to the year 1005, rather than vice versa. The book is never dull; on the contrary, Murray's style is light and enjoyable, and I occasionally felt that I was reading a novel rather than a historical text. The novel is sometimes gossipy, which is, of course, quite interesting, in spite of the fact that most of the subjects have been dead for many centuries. Murray's ability to create a text that focuses on intresting bits of information while not neglecting important facts or major events makes her book fascinating. The only problem occurs when the reader, when trying to recall a particular order of events (such as who came first, Edward VI or Henry VI), may find that the reverse cronology of the text has made it difficult to remember.

Rating:
Summary: Good Reading - Highly Informative
Review: This turned out to be exactly what I was looking for when searching used book stores for a reference guide on the kings & queens of England. I've read it backwards & forwards and find that backwards is the best direction, as it is written in reverse chronological order. It's harder to keep track of your pages, but easier to keep track of the subjects of the book. I wish the book were longer.