Royal Charles

This is what popular historical writing is all about - a readable, knowledgeable, enjoyable book. Fraser provides a superb introduction to the varied life and dramatic times of king Charles II. Her background information is clear and reliably accurate, she provides a great deal of insight into the person of this most personable of kings, and her bibliography is a launching place for further explorations. One could only wish to be able to submit a list of suggestions for new books...

In this wonderful book, Antonia chronicles the doings of the 17th-century royal Stuart family in such detail that I for one feel as though I lived among them. At this locus in space-time we probably know more about Charles II than did his own family. We know, for example, that he was a paid French agent for most of his reign. That Charles II was the man for the job and the times and may have been Britain's best king is hard to dispute. He was certainly the first people's king. His handling of government foreshadowed the checks and balances developed more formally in the next century, but he did not formulate it into a doctrine. That is simply the way it happened. The Stuarts acquired the throne of Britain through Mary, Queen of Scots, who descended from a Tudor. Elizabeth Tudor had her executed, but not before she married had a son with the unfortunate alcoholic, Darnley. The boy was taken from his mother to be raised a Protestant and became James I on the death of Elizabeth, who died without heir. The reign of James I (of King James Bible fame) was happy and prosperous and his son, Charles I, was looking forward to the same. History did not smile on this upright but unlucky king. Society bolted under him, so to speak, and threw him from his horse. The Swiss reform crept down the Rhine and across the channel and lodged in Britain as numerous sects of Puritanism. Meanwhile, the creeping disease of enclosure, the seizure of formerly public lands by private individuals interested in raising sheep and selling wool, and the subsequent forced evacuation of those lands, was slowly but surely building a fury in the common man. Charles I found that he could not govern. Successive parliaments called in the hope of financial relief became ever more unruly until at last they refused to be dismissed! Not the brightest man, though a decent one, Charles I failed to see the impending end of absolute monarchy. He made a fatal mistake, sending soldiers into parliament to arrest 5 MPs, who evaded him anyway. The English Civil War was on. The king ultimately surrendered to parliamentary forces. He might have been spared, but he refused to cooperate in any way with the diminution of the divine right of kings. The parliamentarians played their trump card of executing the king (1649), a blunder on their part. His death aroused mainly grief and horror. Faced with overwhelming adversity, Charles II was not overwhelmed. He shone like the star he was. There are few other teen-age generals in history, but that is what he became fighting for his father, and alone after 1649. Often seen in the front line leading the charge, he was born under a lucky star, surviving somehow. Even Cromwell admitted that his last battle, the Battle of Worcester, was the hardest fought of the war. The king went dodging through the countryside, hiding out in a huge oak while the soldiers beat the bushes for him. He escaped to France and then other points, with the help mainly of ordinary peop

This is possibly one of Fraser's best historical biographies. Charles II, king of the glorious Restoration Period in English history, was a figure of legendary proportions, daring, physically commanding, surviving times of great danger after Cromwell's rule, living in tumultuous times of great scientific discovery, literature and some not-very successful wars against the Dutch. The backdrop of Restoration society is fascinating, bawdy yet considering Shakespeare's plays too crude, wildly sexual, a time of tremendous change in England after the demise of the Tudors. It was a golden age of art and literature and the King was a dramatic figure, enjoying the embraces of comedian Nell Gwynn as well as a number of other famous mistresses, researching in his own laboratory, hunting, racing and swimming. His death at 55 seems a young age, but for those times, he survived to a respectable age and unlike many other kings, died in his bed. If you are interested in Restoration period literature, this is a fun read to set the backdrop for that interesting and fruitful period of European history.

King Charles II, never short of female admirers during his lifetime, certainly has found another fan in Antonia Fraser. The man who fathered fourteen illegitimate children, yet failed to sire an heir to his throne, was tall, charming, and in his own strange way, handsome - although, as Fraser tells us, his olive complexion and Medici looks were not considered to be conventionally good looking. Despite contemporary denials, he was also a convinced Catholic - even though he only formally confessed on his deathbed. Fraser takes us through the many wild turns of Charles' life - early years as the established heir apparent in the court of Charles I, teen years as a minor player in the English Civil War, hero of the siege of Worcester, months as fugitive from the Cromwellians following his father's beheading (and Britain's most wanted man), early adulthood in exile in France and Flanders, glorious Restoration in 1660 and subsequently King of a mini-golden era. While this is by no means an uncritical biography, Fraser argues persuasively that Charles was the master politician of his generation, and she seduces us into cheering on Charles' various attempts, late in his reign, to govern without Parliament. Fraser doesn't assume prior knowledge of English history, so is a great starting point for a first-time encounter with the English Restoration period, yet Fraser's erudition provides enough satisfaction too for seasoned history lovers.

Royal Charles is a delight to read and Fraser makes reading history enjoyable.