Queen Consorts of England: The Power Behind the Throne

Rating:
Summary: Nonsense
Review: From claiming that no Queen of England had a drop of English blood and failing to identify Mathilda (Edith) of Scotland as the daughter of Margaret of England, grand-daughter of Edmund II Ironside to saying that Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Kingmaker was his father's younger son and married twice proves a lack of research that is damning and makes this book absolutely worthless.

Rating:
Summary: Nonsense
Review: From claiming that no Queen of England had a drop of English blood and failing to identify Mathilda (Edith) of Scotland as the daughter of Margaret of England, grand-daughter of Edmund II Ironside to saying that Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Kingmaker was his father's younger son and married twice proves a lack of research that is damning and makes this book absolutely worthless.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but can I believe it?
Review: Petronelle Cook should be lauded for taking on a long overdue task -- compiling biographies of the 37 women who have been married to kings of England since 1066. Her book is lively and fun to read, offering many juicy tidbits about the loves and lives of these royal consorts, providing a riveting soap opera lasting nearly 1,000 years. The trouble is -- is any of this information reliable? Let's start with an obvious problem: Matilda of Scotland (first wife of Henry I) is cited as having been born in 1080, and died in 1118 -- at the age of 41. There is either a problem with arithmatic or editing here, but regardless, it is an unforgivable gaff. The exact same problem happens with Queen Adelaide (b.1792, d.1849, age 67?) and probably others. But beyond that, Ms. Cook makes sweeping statements about her subjects that are simply not backed up by the facts. Getting back to Matilda of Scotland, she says "there is no evidence that she ever had the slightest influence over her husband," a statement which flies directly in the face of Matilda's contemporaries and subsequent biographers. Eleanor of Acquitaine is accused by Ms. Cook of conceiving a child, Prince William, out of wedlock with the future Henry II of England -- except that she has gotten the year of William's birth wrong. By the time he was born, Eleanor and Henry had been legally married for some fifteen months. So what is the reader to make of Ms. Cook's assertion that the disastrous civil war of the twelfth century was spurred by the Empress Matilda's unrequited love for the hapless King Stephen? Who knows? An intriguing theory is hampered by slipshod research and appalling editing. It is a shame, because Petronella Cook is obviously a writer of some talent who relishes her subject. Let's hope that a subsequent edition cleans up such errors and restores her credibility.

Rating:
Summary: A look into the personal lives of the English Monarchs
Review: This book tells the story of all the women to marry onto the English throne. Where the came from. How the came to be Queen Concorts of England. And how there lives influenced England.