The Kings and Queens of England

This is an entertaining, quick introduction to the kings and queens of England beginning with Elizabeth II and going back to Edward the Confessor. It's a great reference for someone like me who is always trying to keep all those Henry's straight. The tone is chatty and a little wry, and Murray offers a guide to further reading which is helpful although dated (this was published in 1974). My previous quick reference to British royalty was the Oxford Book of English History -- this is less academic but far more amusing.

For anyone who wants an introduction to English / British history, and who enjoys a witty book that is both well-researched AND readable, this is your book. I first read this as a teenager and it launched my lifelong love for English history. It's really written for Americans who are going to visit England and want to understand the history of what they will see. I am an academic and I will be the first to say that this is not meant to be a scholarly book, but for what it sets out to do, it does as well as any book I've read. Murray had a brilliant understanding that history is, above all, a story.

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.

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.