Charles I: The Personal Monarch

Countless articles and books have attempted to isolate a cause of the English Civil War and Charles Carlton holds fast to the belief that Charles I, more than anyone else, was responsible for the onset of the English Civil War. This claim is not new and is as close to a consensus among historians that exists in the field. Carlton adds to the argument by examining Charles's childhood and pre-coronation relationships and employing psychology and psychoanalysis to explain who the Stewart king was in the hope of placing his actions as king in a new context. Many have attempted to disect the Early Stewart Monarchy, but Carlton's biography provides new insight making it the "go to" biography for students of the era.

I bought this book after a trip to England, trying to figure out how Charles had so mismanaged his relationship with the House of Commons that he became the only British King to literally be killed by it. This book takes you on an amazing journey. Charles disguises himself and slips out of England, going to Madrid to check out a potential bride in Spanish Royalty. It doesn't work out, and soon after he marries Henrietta Maria of France. She speaks French, and is Catholic. He, of course, is the great defender of the Church of England. Yet they grow to love each other. But in these Puritan times, there are many who are anti-Catholic, and who think that Charles will make the island nation Catholic. The Scots want him to make it Presbyterian. His fights with the House of Commons lead to the English Civil War, which the Royalists lose. But when the radicals in Parliament can't get what they want; approval of a court (with no legal footing) to try and then execute Charles, they do something that seems unthinkable today: they kick out everyone who voted against them. Now the fix is in, yet the judges summoned by Commons to participate, refuse. Still, as the drama builds, that does not stop those intent on killing the king. Amazing Charles handles his last months of life with great dignity, once turning his back to his advisors so they will not see his tears fall. The day before his beheading, he is allowed to see his children, in scene that is emotional for any parent to read. What happened in London in a bleak January in 1649, and all the events leading up to it, create a story that should be read by everyone in the United States and Great Britain.