Crown and Country

By David Starkey

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Just imagine that breathtaking moment when you become the ruler of Great Britain. Your father or brother dies, or perhaps you sailed across the Strait of Dover to slay the previous king. You are now in charge of everything. Armies move at your command, people die at your whim. Nobody can tell you what to do either – unless you overreach and lose your head.

Any man or woman who may one day wear the crown must dream, “What shall I do when I am king?” David Starkey’s nonfiction Crown & Country, now in its third revision, tells us how each ruler from before the Roman invasion to the present carried out those plans; many for the better, a few for the worse. Starkey’s artful biographies of each king and queen provide a delightful buffet for everyone who loves the royals or British history. Maps would have been helpful, but clearly-drawn family trees untangle the complicated royal lineages from the House of Wessex to the House of Windsor. I highly recommend this entertaining and very useful history.