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John (Penguin Monarchs): An Evil King?
Hardback
Main Details
Title |
John (Penguin Monarchs): An Evil King?
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Authors and Contributors |
By (author) Nicholas Vincent
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Series | Penguin Monarchs |
Physical Properties |
Format:Hardback | Pages:144 | Dimensions(mm): Height 186,Width 129 |
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Category/Genre | British and Irish History |
ISBN/Barcode |
9780141977690
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Classifications | Dewey:942.033092 |
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Audience | |
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Publishing Details |
Publisher |
Penguin Books Ltd
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Imprint |
Allen Lane
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Publication Date |
30 July 2020 |
Publication Country |
United Kingdom
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Description
A fascinating portrayal of a complex, unpopular king, defined by the Magna Carta King John ruled England for seventeen and a half years. For most of that time he enjoyed, if not popularity, then great wealth and power. Yet to posterity his entire reign has come to be embodied in a single image. Furious, outmanoeuvred, crippled with vice, the King sits at Runnymede sealing or more often (and anachronistically) signing Magna Carta. No matter whether we approach this event as reactionaries wishing that the King would assert himself, as conservatives delighted by the restoration of constitutional 'rights', or as radicals longing for liberty and revolution, Runnymede changes everything in our perception of King John. Seventeen years of history are reduced to a picnic on the banks of the Thames. John is exposed as villainous and pathetic. The people triumph. Tyranny is righted. Nicholas Vincent's fascinating portrayal of a complex man unpicks the character behind one of England's most despised kings. Was he as evil as legend suggests? Or has he been unfairly misunderstood?
Author Biography
Nicholas Vincent is a professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, specializing in twelfth and thirteenth-century history, with a particular current focus on the Magna Carta. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.
ReviewsSwashbuckling stuff, and there is only one answer to the question posed by the subtitle. -- George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History at Oxford University
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