Reviews

Crown and Country: A History of England Through the Monarchy by David Starkey

hewlettelaine's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

A solid, concise run through the history of the English and British monarchy

mollyocurnain888's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

4.5

lisamshardlow's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

After reading a lot about the Tudors recently I wanted to go all the way back to the beginning of the English monarchy and learn bits about all of them, so I read this book. Political matters seem to just go straight over my head, but mostly I found this interesting. I feel as though I've learned quite a bit about the history of the English monarchy, and that was my intention with reading this, it's just I found the matters of politics hard to understand and a little boring. Loved the biographies of each reigning King and Queen though.

queertrovert's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Tried to enjoy this but couldn't. Bored me half to death. A certain type of reader/learner might love it, I'm just not that type at all.

hazza3576's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

5.0

Brilliant history of the british monarchy. The role of the monarchy is explored and its changing role in society throughout the ages.

gwellman's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

helenephoebe's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Review - Although I have already read [b:Monarchy: England and Her Rulers from the Tudors to the Windsors|1876159|Monarchy England and Her Rulers from the Tudors to the Windsors |David Starkey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436561481s/1876159.jpg|1877125], it didn't cover the earlier period, which this one does. I really liked Monarchy as an introduction and reference outline for the periods, but Crown & Country is better as it covers a longer period of time. It is concise and well-written, without being too complicated. Perfect for a beginner!

General Subject/s? - History / Wars of the Roses / Tudors / Stuarts / English Civil War / Georgians / Victorians

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 16/20

mjmajo's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

por fin entendí todo lo que alguna vez quise entender de la monarquía británica, así que agradezco eso. si bien siento que el libro pasó por encima de algunos eventos históricos muy importantes, entiendo que esto es un libro de la historia de la monarquía, no necesariamente del imperio inglés.
una vez más tengo que mencionar que me choquea leer el comportamiento medieval de la gente, pero eso es obvio.
en comparación con lo que transmitió el libro de los Romanov, la monarquía inglesa es mucho más moderada y normal, a pesar de todo. y francamente me aburrí con la cantidad de siglos que los británicos se pasaron peleando por razones religiosas, no tenía idea, y lo encuentro bastante insípido. no sabía que fue tanto tiempo. creo que desde Enrique VIII los británicos no pararon de pelear por qué religión debiera seguir el país, y después de un tiempo la cosa se puso monótona. especialmente sabiendo el clima religioso del siglo 21.
buena decisión haber leído el libro, pero ojalá no me den ganas de aprender de más monarquías por un largo rato.

britcorm's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

So far I'm not terribly impressed but I am also aware of my own biases. The first section is entirely dedicated to the origins of an English monarchy and I am only now reaching the "Edwards". It was terribly boring for me up until hitting the monarchy involved in the crusades because of my knowledge of the legend of Robin Hood. Other than that the first section was really dull. But again, I am biased because I only really like Henry VIII up until the passing of Elizabeth I. Though I have recently (since 2007) found the "Georges" and Elizabeth II much more interesting than in previous years... likely because it is becoming more "old" history than "contemporary" history. So I am looking forward to those sections of the book so... stay tuned!

katiedavis's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative slow-paced

3.75