King John

It is a lot of fun to read about King John because he is so ridiculously and ubiquitously nasty – like watching a TV show with a character who is a real creep, bad can be very entertaining. But to have lived with the man who was the poster child for the abolishment of primogeniture was a different thing altogether. Throughout his adulthood, John was a bully, vindictive, cruel and lying like a rug. Like many bullies, he abused people and then didn't understand when they turned on him. John had the pleasure of being a King who so alienated his aristocracy that they invited the King of another country to invade England. And it was the French King, an arch enemy! A lot of research went into "King John". As Marc Morris tells us in his Introduction: "To get to the real King John, we have to look at the evidence from his own day – what was said about him by contemporary chroniclers, and what can be learned about him from official records. John's reign was a watershed moment in many important respects, including the amount of government archive.... We have far more letters, charters, memoranda – in short, far more information – about John than we do for any of his predecessors.... Once he is king, that is. One of the problems with telling John's story is that he was the youngest of five brothers, and as such did not grow up expecting to inherit very much at all.... For this reason, I decided to start my account a few years into his reign." That would be 1203. John was 36 years old and had been King for 4 years. He has started the downward slide that will lose England all of its Angevin holdings, the western part of modern-day France, from Normandy down to Gascony. Morris includes 3 maps at the beginning the book. The first shows western France/Angevin, the 2nd England & Wales, and the 3rd Ireland. These maps were invaluable to me as I was reading. He also includes an appendix with a full translation of the 1215 Magna Carta. There are also extensive Notes, Bibliography and an Index. A middle section has 16 photos. One of them is John's tomb in Worcester Cathedral. Its effigy is the closest thing to a portrait that we have of this famous, or infamous, King. I am a history nerd and I enjoyed this book, 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It can be a little dense at times, because Morris includes a lot of detail. But it is a fascinating topic and he makes the period come alive. If you want to expand your reading to the whole Plantagenet dynasty, "A Stiffnecked and Fascinating Bunch", I can recommend The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England . I received a free copy of "King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England". Happy Reader

This book is good, really good. I had prior read Morris’s The Norman Conquest and have covered everything to King John from other books. I’m past halfway when writing this and I really like the book. I’ve learned a lot so far and in the background sections covering Henry I to Henry II, II’s sons, Richard, and John & Richard, there is nothing here that goes against what I’ve prior read. Morris knows his stuff. My reason for why I felt compelled to review this book before finishing is I’m not a fan of how Morris handled the chronology. Book starts in 1204 covering John losing his holdings on the continent. Then the next chapter covers about 60-70 years prior to when John enters the world. Look this chapter is good as it’s an excellent summary, but then once done you’re jumping ahead to when John is in power in the early 13th century. Then back again. Then ahead again. I can get that if he’d gone more chronological, we don’t get into the thick of who this book is about, 3-4 chapters in, but I’d take that over the back & forth through time. But aside from that one grievance, this is a good book, but it’s why I can’t say say it’s a perfect 5/5. For the most is still a fairly easy and informative read. Just that chronology man. As one of the top reviews mentioned, you want read the first few even chapters first if you want to keep up with the chronology then do the odd. I won’t go back and do that as I’ve personally covered Henry I to Henry II to Richard extensively already, but I’m sure it’s a great idea for anyone interested in this book. Anyway, looking forward to finishing in the coming days. My thoughts on John is he had potential, but was a bit of a twat & a goober. Looking forward to learning about Henry III next!

What an amazing story I knew very little about. The book does a great job of objectively recounting John’s descent into tyranny and fairly assesses the historical evidence on all sides of his personal culpability vs larger circumstances. The best part is ending on the inspiring note of the grass roots development of Magna Carta and its charting the course for a more free society. I highly recommend reading the Magna Carta translation as a reminder of how people have stood up to tyranny for centuries.

Great read. Intriguing look at King John. Last living son of Henry II to become a Ing of England. Well written and rich in detail.

I've read all of Marc's books. This one wasn't available for Kindle on Amazon Canada for quite a while. Worth the wait.