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John (Penguin Monarchs): An Evil King?

Hardback

Main Details

Title John (Penguin Monarchs): An Evil King?
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Nicholas Vincent
SeriesPenguin Monarchs
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:144
Dimensions(mm): Height 186,Width 129
Category/GenreBritish and Irish History
ISBN/Barcode 9780141977690
ClassificationsDewey:942.033092
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Allen Lane
Publication Date 30 July 2020
Publication Country United Kingdom

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.

Reviews

Swashbuckling stuff, and there is only one answer to the question posed by the subtitle. -- George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History at Oxford University