This is the history of the men and women who occupied the highest position in English, and later British, society. From Richard III’s infamous life and death, to Henry VIII’s wives, Charles I’s execution and Queen Victoria’s exceptionally long reign, their dramatic story unfolds within the pages of this book. For about a thousand years they were superior lords, the leaders of a nobility which ruled, and for about three hundred years thereafter they were sovereigns, whose servants ruled in their name. Now, with the rise of democracy, they no longer rule. The Queen is a symbol and a social leader, vastly experienced in the ways of the world, and the head of a family that strives to be useful in a modern community. The records of the monarchy vary from one period to another, and many of them are political in nature. However, it is always necessary to remember the human being behind the constitutional façade. This is an attempt to recover their identities.

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• ‘An

  all-encompassing guide … a quality addition to the subject’ ALL ABOUT HISTORY

  MAGAZINE

• ‘Ideal

  for dipping into … enlightening’ GOOD BOOK GUIDE

• Fabulously illustrated with over 150 contemporary images and

  genealogical tables, many in full colour.

• Praise

  for David Loades: Henry VIII (Amberley,

  2011) ‘A triumph’ THE SPECTATOR; Mary Tudor: A Life (Blackwell, 1994) ‘An

  excellent and sensitive biography’ THE

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• Individual

  chapters on each reigning monarch, including the major pre-1066 rulers

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