This enthralling story of 1,000 years of English history is told through the lives and deeds of kings and queens who ruled the English isle, from the Normans to the Windsors. Historical details themselves, such as the American Revolution, are mentioned briefly in context of the overall reign (Cromwell is omitted entirely, for those wondering). The Angevins (from the French term meaning "from Anjou") ruled over the Angevin Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries, an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland.

What this collection of concise portraits of every single English king and queen regnant from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II by various authors lacks in depth, it makes up for in breadth. Enjoyable enough though it does contain some historical inaccuracies which some of my fellow reviewers have already remarked upon. I guess this book knows its audience – I mean, you are probably most likely to read a book by this title if you think the monarchy is a good thing and are a conservative old fool in a nursing home (or a conservative old fool in waiting to go to a nursing home), whereas I was mostly reading it for amusing anecdotes.

Then we get to the 20th century - and - oh good lord - according to this text, the monarchy did no wrong ever, all the common people loved them, the press are just big old meanies with their modern attitudes of demanding transparency, and Elizabeth II is a goddess on earth. Though on line reviews of the book are usually favorable one person said this just doesn't work for someone who reads a lot on the subject and they we're right. Ian Crofton provides a similar directory in, “Kings and Queens of England: The Lives and Reigns of the Monarchs of England”.

The book starts with William the Conqueror's 1066 invasion and briskly move through the ongoing reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth's cousin, King James VI of Scotland, succeeded to the English throne as James I in the Union of the Crowns. From the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. A bit on the fluffy side, but as always for a book like this you wont get a lot of detail on specific monarchs just a good general picture of their reign.Dynasties, battles and religious differences are discussed in some detail, but these discussions are pointless without any mention of the societies in which the dynasties quarraled, or the technology used in the battles. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered how it all happened without having to delve into too many details.

The Angevins formulated England's royal coat of arms, which usually showed other kingdoms held or claimed by them or their successors, although without representation of Ireland for quite some time. The subsequent dynastic struggles of the Angevins and Plantagenets heralded the great age of English kingship under the Tudors and Stuarts, who united the crowns of Scotland and England, before the Hanoverians combined personal rule with parliamentary government, ushering in the modern age and the royalty of today. On the other hand, the format is useful as a quick reference with charts depicting the monarch’s coat of arms and listing such facts as birth date, parents, children, succession date, house, death, etc; while the section contain photos, quotes, and small supplemented texts to round the bios. An annoying factor is Crofton’s habit of mentioning Shakespeare and the playwright’s depictions of kings. There really is no wonder that so many works of historical fiction have been based around the lives of various Kings and Queens of England!The chapters are presented with a brief character analysis, a timeline of events, illustrations of people places and events, reflective observations from contemporaries and sections devoted to highlights of the ruler’s life. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum ("King of the English"). They did avoid a lot of controversy and tried to see both good and bad in some reigns which I think is just too unbiased.