The White King

WINNER HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON FICTION CROWN 2018From the New York Times Bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the critically acclaimed story of Charles I, his warrior queen, Britain s civil wars and the trial for his life.Barely forty years after the England s golden age under Elizabeth, the country was at war with itself, split between loyalty to the Crown and Parliament, with armies raised in Scotland and Ireland, and fighters arriving from Europe to wage war on English soil for the last time in England s history The English Civil War would set family against family, friend against friend, and its casualties were immense a greater proportion of the population than in World War I England had become a failed state.At the head of the disintegrating kingdom was the figure of the king Charles I In this vivid portrait newly informed by previously unseen manuscripts, including royal correspondence between the king and his queen, some of it written in code Leanda de Lisle depicts a man who was not cruel enough for his cruel times He would not persecute his opponents in the bloody style of his Tudor antecedents, or throw his servants to the wolves to save his own skin in the time honored royal style He was tutored by his father in the rights and obligations of kings, but had none of his father s political subtlety and experience in survival In a court of remarkable women he was happily married but to a French Catholic princess, which caused consternation to his protestant subjects Principled and high minded, he would pay a terrible price for the personal honor he so valued, and for having enemies ruthless than he was Nothing, however, would reflect on his character as much as the scene at his terrible death, speaking on the scaffold as a martyr of the people In his own destruction Charles did not sow the seeds of the monarchy s destruction but its rebirth England s revolution lasted eleven unhappy years and the Crown was then restored, to national rejoicing Today England enjoys rule by parliament and monarch while the Church of England has the bishops Charles was determined to preserve More radical religious experimenters took their faith to the New World and the seeds of a republic, leaving England to mend its wounds and restore its fortunes and future as the world s preeminent constitutional monarchy. Best Download The White King [ by ] Leanda de Lisle [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr As a Tudor historian, it is nearly impossible to review works set during the time period without seeing the content through the jaundiced lens of your own biases More often than not, there is room for multiple interpretations of the documented evidence, but it can be hard to overcome the instinctual gut reaction humans experience when faced with an opinion that differs from one they wholeheartedly embrace about historical figures they have come to cherish That uncomfortableness is invaluable w As a Tudor historian, it is nearly impossible to review works set during the time period without seeing the content through the jaundiced lens of your own biases More often than not, there is room for multiple interpretations of the documented evidence, but it can be hard to overcome the instinctual gut reaction humans experience when faced with an opinion that differs from one they wholeheartedly embrace about historical figures they have come to cherish That uncomfortableness is invaluable when we seek academic growth, but it makes reading for pleasure a challenge Thankfully, I had few preconceived notions about England s first Caroline king, and when I was offered the opportunity to review the latest take on his life, I leapt at the chance Few things can compare to the joy I feel when introduced to a new historical subject and ...The reign of King Charles I in the sixteenth century England is nothing less than a tragedy ridden with civil war, the dissolution of the monarchy, the reign of Oliver Cromwell, and eventual regicide What went wrong during this dramatic time Was Charles a victim or antagonist Leanda De Lisle attempts to answer these questions among others in, The White King Charles I, Traitor, Murderer, Martyr Readers expecting a simple biography of Charles I or a portrait of the times will be sorely dis The reign of King Charles I in the sixteenth century England is nothing less than a tragedy ridden with civil war, the dissolut...As with Nicholas II, the last ruling Romanov, how we view Charles I is largely set by how his days ended And as with Nicholas, we have been further conditioned by generations of propaganda pumped out by the winners and their ideological allies, claiming that it was Charles s own bad philosophy, coupled with incompetence, rather than mostly bad luck and choices only wrong in retrospect, that led to h...As I began the book, I was a little sceptical was this going to be yet another biography of King Charles I, slamming him for his faults and never mentioning his qualities Or would it begushing like a hagiography Out of all the biographies of King Charles that I had read, the only one I thought well balanced was the short biography by the late Mark Kishlansky I wondered what de Lisle would bring to the sovereign s story that hadn t already been told many times.By the end of the first c As I began the book, I was a little sceptical was this going ...The White King accomplishes much of what makes de Lisle a great historical writer the historical figures come alive as characters under her pen, and the history is meticulously researched and presented in a wealth of detail.Unfortunately, that last point is also what drags the book down The supremely bloated middle section goes on for pages and pages about the civil war every battle, with numbers of soldiers and horses and munitions all the casualties the movements of everyone around the c The White King accomplishes much of what makes de Lisle a great historical writer the historical figures come alive as characters under her pen, and the history is meticulously researched and presented in a wealth of detail.Unfortunately, that last point is also what drags the book down The supremely bloated middle section goes on for pages and pages about the civil war every battle, with numbers of soldiers and horses and munitions all the casua...I clearly remember when I was studying my A Levels, sitting in my history lesson and learning about Charles I and the Divine Right of Kings I remember studying the causes of the English Civil War and thinking this has to be the most boring part of English history I have ever had the misfortune of studying Little did I know that when I moved on to University I would end up falling in love with the English Civil War and specialisi...Hmmm as someone who doesn t know the history I was hoping for a lucid analysis of the causes of the English Civil War This book does not deliver that, but does argue that the Puritans in Parliament were spoiling for a fight and Charles room for manoeuvre was limited The author hits her stride when the war actually starts and then it becomes an exciting narrative of battles, treachery, desperate dashes and brilliant escapes all across the country De Lisle makes quite a case for Henrietta Ma Hmmm as someone who doesn t know the history I was hoping for a lucid analysis of the causes of the English Civil War This book does not deliver that, but does argue that the Puritans in Parliament were spoiling for a fight and Charles room for manoeuvre was limited The author hits her stride when the war actually starts and then it becomes an exciting narrative of battles, treachery, desperate dashes and brilliant escapes all across the country De Lisle makes quite a case for Henrietta Maria being a feisty Queen who Charles should have listened toTher...Before this book all I knew about Charles Ist was from a history of England that he was a tyrant and murderer and Oliver Cromwell together with Parliament had his head chopped off From this quite large and detailed book I learned that he was not a tyrant beyond what the average king of England ruled as, and he was not a murderer beyond having his troops contest Cromwell s troops in the civil wars The book is only two stars for me because Charles was simply not an interesting ruler and the book Before this book all I knew about Charles Ist was from a history of England that he was a tyrant and murderer and Oliver Cromwell together with Parliament had his head chopped off From this quite large and detailed book I learned that he was not ...Much of this book is densely packed with historical facts This can detract from its narrative quality, especially for a general reader such as myself without any detailed historical knowledge of the period it covers Nevertheless, persistence pays off An in depth picture eventually emerges of Charles I as a courageous but very human leader Th...Changed my school learned preconceptions Beats Brexit for the fanaticism, scheming and unscrupulousness that the poor man had to endure and eventually did for him.

• English
• 16 April 2018
Leanda de Lisle
• Hardcover
• 432 pages
• 0701185864
• Leanda de Lisle
• The White King