Michele Morrical

In this book Morrical considers whether six of the medieval monarchs could be considered as usurpers both in terms of the historical contemporary context and with our distanced view. It's a really strong book as it considers the first three situations - William I, Stephen and Henry IV. However as the last three kings were all contemporaneous the book begins to break down as it repeats facts. Read separately these accounts would be fine but read consecutively I started to become annoyed. The book feels like a series of excellent essays but needed edited to create a more effective narrative as a book.… (mer)