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'Julian Rathbone's follow up to the bestselling LAST ENGLISH KING is a hugely enjoyable amble into a most gruesome period of history' THE TIMES 'The Wars of the Roses never seemed so strange - or so real ... The result is a historical novel of charm and intelligence' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'A superb adventure story. The battle scenes combine excitement with an overwhelming squalor, and there are moments of real tragedy and pathos' INDEPENDENT
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England, 1460: The War of the Roses. Rival factions - Lancastrians and Yorkists - are hacking each other to death in a conflict that only the English could name after a beautifully-scented flower. It's not an ideal climate for tourists - but three exotic travellers from the Far East are not here for pleasure. They've come to find a missing kinsman. The English, however, are truly strange. Most of the indigenous population are of the cowed peasant variety whilst any noble who can't trace his ancestry to Norman Conquest isn't, really, an awfully nice chap. In between battles of the most astonishing brutality they convey respects instead of affection, make love strangely (and briefly) and amuse themselves by playing a game with an inflated bladder that is in everyway a war except it's called 'footie'. The Indians think they're mad. They also have this horrible suspicion that one day they will rule the world...A wonderfully offbeat take on medieval England at its most brutal and savage, KINGS OF ALBION snatches history, imbues it with the spirit of Rider Haggard and Joseph Conrad, turns it on its head, invites scintillating speculation and, best of all, renders it into a fabulously readable novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Never the conventional historical novelist, Julian Rathbone finds a new slant on the Wars of the Roses, by unfolding events through the eyes of non-European visitors to England.
As a plot device this works well in that the strange (to us) details of everyday life 500 years ago can be explained while the narrator's alienation serves as a proxy for own. Nevertheless this plot device at times wears thin particularly when the visitors are portrayed as credulous and naive.
The novel is on the whole extremely funny. It brings alive the confusion and anarchy of the 15th Century, peopling it with the smells and textures and bodily functions, you imagine must have been prevalent in a less sophisticated time. The plot is a riot, full of adventure revealed via a sucession of picaresque episodes. The denouement is disappointing and feels like an artificial resolution to an otherwise stunning adventure.
I couldn't put it down.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book has much to recommend it. It is vivid, alive with the smells and sights of 15th Century England. The story has shifting points of view by having different narrators, and this is handled with skill by Rathbone. By having the main narrator, Ali, an Arab, who travels the Middle and Far East, it puts English History into a World History Context.
Conversely, I found myself getting confused by the events. Who was fighting who and that sort of thing. Now I know with the War of the Roses, it is difficult to differentiate between the two sides; but I would have thought it was the novelist's job to do just this for us. Towards the end of the book, I had stopped caring about either the characters or the plot. There is also too much description of people. A brief descripton suffices. "She was tall, with beautiful brown eyes and olive skin" is all you need to say about someone. A paragraph spent describing someone's looks is a paragraph wasted. Too much description and the resulting image is that of a grotesque freak.
This is such a disappointment after The Last English King, which is so superior.
Conversely, I found myself getting confused by the events. Who was fighting who and that sort of thing. Now I know with the War of the Roses, it is difficult to differentiate between the two sides; but I would have thought it was the novelist's job to do just this for us. Towards the end of the book, I had stopped caring about either the characters or the plot. There is also too much description of people. A brief descripton suffices. "She was tall, with beautiful brown eyes and olive skin" is all you need to say about someone. A paragraph spent describing someone's looks is a paragraph wasted. Too much description and the resulting image is that of a grotesque freak.
This is such a disappointment after The Last English King, which is so superior.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The perception of western life through eastern eyes is a most timely corrective.
But how trustworthy is it? I ask because of the cartoon depiction of the future Richard 111. Rathbone appears to have swallowed More's satire and Shakespeare's morality play uncritically whole. The truth, if you're interested, is that Richard was a good king and able administrator, but fatally naive in politics and undone by treacherous factions, leaving the throne vacant for the truly evil Henry V11 and his terrorist son Henry V111. They don't teach that in schools either.
So how much of Rathbone's remaining research is robust? We've all got to think for ourselves in these times - that's the real lesson of September 11.
For further reading, you might like to try 'Good King Richard?' by Jeremy Potter, or for a diverting (but equally one-eyed) novel 'The Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dull dull dull....
Starts slowly and continues slowly. Don't bother if you want to know about the War of the Roses, the "action" doesn't get to England until page 82!
Published on 30 Nov 2009 by Android
Very good plot badly presented
What would otherwise be a fascinating view of 15th century England and a superb opportunity to enlighten readers on the Wars of the Roses (because it is almost completely ignored... Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2009 by MiddleAge
Enjoyable, yet strangely annoying.
As one of the previous reviewers said, this is a wonderful idea that could have been better executed. Read more
Published on 4 July 2008 by Iphidaimos
Enjoyable, but not Rathbone's best
In a similar vein to the excellent 'The Last English King' - which gets a small mention - but somehow not quite as good. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2008 by N. Young
Dull
It is interesting that if you write a negative review that you tend to get more people voting that your review was useless. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2006 by A. Gothorp
Smashing!!!
A hugely enjoyable read. I read this book when it first came out after having seen it in the library. It exceeded all my expectations. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2005 by Clare
A great idea badly executed
It is a long time since I have been so disappointed in a book. I don't mean it is the worst book I've ever read - I made it to the end - but it could and should have been so much... Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2003 by Michael Evans
A novel perspective on the wars of the roses
On the whole I found this to be a really novel and interesting perspective on a period of history of which I have read in depth. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2003 by kate Gething
A new look at old attitudes...
What a great book. It left me breathless, informed, uplifted, excited and slightly uneasy about all the throw-away references that must have gone over my head. Read more
Published on 8 July 2002 by Steve Gray
Slow start - but worth it
I enjoyed this a lot - eventually. The slow start was overlong, but once our heroes managed to find 15th century England off the coast of Calais, it become very gripping. Read more
Published on 6 May 2002 by "tonyfitz"
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