- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus (27 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0701169842
- ISBN-13: 978-0701169848
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 673,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Cradle King
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Published to mark the 400th anniversary of King James I's accession to the throne of England in 1603, Alan Stewart's biography The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I offers a fascinating reassessment of one of England's most curiously neglected monarchs. As Stewart suggests, this unfair neglect masks a complex and highly intelligent monarch who achieved the feat of ruling England in peace from 1603 until his death of natural causes in 1625.
The strength of Stewart's biography lies in his exploration of James' other title: King James VI of Scotland. James was crowned king at the age of one "during one of the most bitter and bloody periods in Scottish history", which witnessed the expulsion and subsequent murder of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, and repeated attempts upon the young king's life. Stewart has trawled a mass of neglected archival material to provide a compelling portrait of the "cradle king", who spent over 50 years as a king, and whose public life was defined by the febrile and violent world of Scottish politics.
In 1603, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, James took the crown of England, and Stewart spends the second half of his biography unravelling James' labyrinthine financial, domestic and foreign policy, as well as his complex sexuality, and extraordinary relationship with the charismatic Duke of Buckingham.
This is an excellent biography that resituates James as one of England's most astute monarchs, while also comically underlining his faults and foibles. Stewart points out that James "mocked colonial exploration, fell asleep during England's most celebrated plays, and showed little interest in momentous scientific advances", all signs of how his public career was shaped in his infancy as a "cradle king". --Jerry Brotton
Product Description
James's reign was one of the most important for Britain's history - constitutionally, intellectually, politically and artistically. But most accounts of his life fail to convey the extraordinary and scandalous nature of his court and family life - or the true impact of his early life on his later style of leadership. His was the ultimate dysfunctional family: his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was believed to be the murderer of his father Lord Darnley. When she fled to England in 1567, James VI became King of Scotland at the age of one. His childhood was overshadowed by political struggles for control over his mind and his body by clerics, kingmakers and courtiers, culminating in virtual imprisonment by the age of 16. But he had learned well from his upbringing. By now a seasoned political operator, he gained the throne of England in 1603, as James I, finally uniting the two kingdoms. From adolescence onwards, his personal relationships were the talk of the court. After an early passionate attachment to his older cousin, the glamorous, gallicised Esme Stuart, he moved from one male favourite to the next, showering them with gifts and favours. This lively portrait of a crucial reign in Britain's history focuses on key moments and relationships - his early loves, his relations with his mother, with Elizabeth I and Anne of Denmark, the rise of a trade in pretty young men at court, the impact of a Scottish king on the English throne, his complex relationship with his son and heir, the rise and fall of the powerful later favourites - allowing a new understanding of the man and his colourful times.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but not unputdownable,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I (Hardcover)
The factors that render a book like this unputdownable are either relevations of how the principal figure influenced contemporary political developments or - preferably AND - what a colourful personality he or she was. In the last case an author's mischievous eye in bringing that personality to life is an essential requirement.Having bought the book on the strenght of the above synopsis I had hopes that at least the second element would guarantee a few day's entertaining reading. As it turns out, Mr. Stewart has taken great pains never to appear even remotely tabloidsy or unduly humorous in his approach of James the private person and his treatment of the King's private foibles could be read out under the Christmas tree without causing any great scandal or merriment. What remains then to make this book interesting to the non-British reader is the impact James made on political or other major developments in the European theater. Here however the reader will find that James'occasional efforts in this field were usually without much consequence. His efforts concentrated on Scottish issues such as bringing the Kirk to heel, his unsuccesful efforts to formally create a Great Britain in his lifetime and on his other efforts in the fields of politics, theology and poetry within England and Scotland. The resulting book is certainly "popular history" that however style-wise fully earns the Irish Times'description as being "thoughtful and erudite" which as we know is not always equal to "gripping and unputdownable". It will no doubt be of considerable interest to serious students of Britain's history and the Stuart dynasty. Foreign - and/or more shallow - readers should however approach the book's synopsis with some caution as it suggests more entertainment than this book actually delivers.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Straight Biography - What We Need,
By
This review is from: The Cradle King: A Life of James VI & I: A Life of James VI and I (Paperback)
There are real problems in writing a biography of James VI and I - the first is implicit in those Latin numbers: Do we focus on the King of Scotland or the King of "Great Britain"? Another is that historiographers have, for 350 years, taken sides regarding James's contribution to the British state. Thirdly, many writers have been caught by the contemporary appraisal of James as "the wisest fool in Christendom" and have used it as their guiding principle in describing his reign.
So, this is the kind of book we really need when dealing with James. Yes it's stodgy. Yes it's lacking in verve. Yes it reads like a very long essay written for a PhD Thesis. And yes I put it down. Frequently. And Then I picked it up again. See, this is a biography of a complex figure in British history and it simply tells the story as it happened. It doesn't tell you what to think about it. I rather like that. So, down a star for being a bit turgid. Down another star because what this book really needs is an extra two appendices. The writer constructs the latter part of James's life thematically (relations with Parliament, religious rows etc) so chapters overlap. A timeline would be helpful. So would a list of main figures (such as Bothwell and Carr) along with short biographies.
5.0 out of 5 stars
James VI and I,
This review is from: The Cradle King: A Life of James VI & I: A Life of James VI and I (Paperback)
This is a well written biography and is very helpful indeed to those who have only a sketchy knowledge of the structures of politics and aristocracy in Scotland. The author leads you through the twists and turns of James's childhood but leaves perhaps certain questions unasked and unanswered particularly over the kings relations with his male favourites....
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