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Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the United Kingdom category.--Choice Magazine"Choice Outstanding Academic Title" (03/12/2012)
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This compelling new biography provides the most authoritative picture yet of King Stephen, whose reign (1135-1154), with its 'nineteen long winters' of civil war, made his name synonymous with failed leadership. After years of work on the sources, Edmund King shows with rare clarity the strengths and weaknesses of the monarch. Keeping Stephen at the forefront of his account, the author also chronicles the activities of key family members and associates whose loyal support sustained Stephens kingship. In 1135 the popular Stephen was elected king against the claims of the empress Matilda and her sons. But by 1153, Stephen had lost control over Normandy and other important regions, England had lost prestige, and the weakened king was forced to cede his familys right to succession. A rich narrative covering the drama of a tumultuous reign, this book focuses well-deserved attention on a king who lost control of his destiny.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Edmund King has written a meticulously detailed and a well-researched account of the life of King Stephen. Withe the nineteen year long civil war the main event of the reign, King also gives important assessment to the real powers behind the throne; Stephen's queen Matilda and brother Henry of Winchester, son Eustace, and his civil war enemies; Empress Matilda, her bastard brother Robert of Gloucester and the 'legal heir' to the kingdom, Duke Henry of Normandy who succeeded Stephen as Henry II.
The traditional view of Stephen is that he was an ineffective ruler who failed to pass on his kingdom to his descendants, relinquishing the succession after 19 years of civil war to Henry, Duke of Normandy, the future Henry II, the son of Empress Matilda and grandson of the previous king Henry I.
While King doesn't shy away from Stephen's ultimate failure, he is very sympathetic, concluding that, to his credit, Stephen was a peace-loving king but at the same time appeasement in favour of his enemies did not secure him and his descendants the crown. King writes with John of Worcester's conclusion in mind, that 'Stephen is the king of peace. If only he was the king of firm justice, crushing his enemies under foot.' It was inevitable, as evidenced by the peaceful settlement, even before Stephen's heir Eustace's death, that Duke Henry would succeed.
A valuable book that gives us more flesh and understanding to this period.
The traditional view of Stephen is that he was an ineffective ruler who failed to pass on his kingdom to his descendants, relinquishing the succession after 19 years of civil war to Henry, Duke of Normandy, the future Henry II, the son of Empress Matilda and grandson of the previous king Henry I.
While King doesn't shy away from Stephen's ultimate failure, he is very sympathetic, concluding that, to his credit, Stephen was a peace-loving king but at the same time appeasement in favour of his enemies did not secure him and his descendants the crown. King writes with John of Worcester's conclusion in mind, that 'Stephen is the king of peace. If only he was the king of firm justice, crushing his enemies under foot.' It was inevitable, as evidenced by the peaceful settlement, even before Stephen's heir Eustace's death, that Duke Henry would succeed.
A valuable book that gives us more flesh and understanding to this period.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I very much enjoyed reading this important biography of a little-known English king. Yale do an excellent job in producing this series.
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