Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

James II (1633-1701) lacked the charisma of his father, Charles I, but shared his tendency to dismiss the views of others when they differed from his own. Failing to understand his subjects, James was also misunderstood by them. In this highly-regarded biography, John Miller reassesses James II and his reign, drawing on a wide array of primary sources from France, Italy, and Ireland as well as England. Miller argues that the king had many laudable attributes--he was brave, loyal, honorable, and hard-working, and he was at least as benevolent toward his people as his father had been. Yet James's conversion to Catholicism fueled the distrust of his Protestant subjects who placed the worst possible construction on his actions and statements. Although James came to see the securing of religious freedom for Catholics in the wider context of freedom for all religious minorities, his people naturally doubted the sincerity of his commitment to toleration.The book explores James's relations with the state and society, focusing on the political, diplomatic, and religious issues that shaped his reign. Miller discusses the human failings, the gulf of understanding between the king and his subjects, and the sheer bad luck that led to James's downfall. He also considers the reasons for James's lack of interest in recovering his kingdom after his flight to France in 1688. This revised edition of the book includes a substantial new foreword assessing recent work on the reign."This is a first-class essay in historical biography. . . . It must displace all previous lives of James II."-J. P. Kenyon, Observer

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Royalty. --- James --- Great Britain --- History --- Kings and rulers

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In 1714 George Ludwig, the fifty-eight-year-old elector of Brunswick-Luneburg, became, as George I, the first of the Hanoverian dynasty to rule Britain. Until his death in 1727 George served as both elector of Hanover and British monarch. An enigmatic figure whose real character has long been concealed by anti-Hanoverian propaganda, George emerges in this groundbreaking biography as an impressive ruler who welcomed the responsibilities the accession brought him and set out to bring culture to what he considered the unsophisticated English nation.Ragnhild Hatton's biography is the only comprehensive account of George's life and reign. It draws on a wide range of archival sources in several languages to illuminate the fascinating details of George's early life and dynastic crises, his plans and ambitions for the British nation, the impact of his rationalist ideas, and his accomplishments as king. The book also examines the king's private life, his family relationships in both Prussia and England, his private interest in music and the arts, and the improvement of his British and Hanoverian properties.

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Royalty. --- George --- Georg Ludwig --- Great Britain --- History --- Kings and rulers

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This first modern study of Henry the Young King, eldest son of Henry II but the least known Plantagenet monarch, explores the brief but eventful life of the only English ruler after the Norman Conquest to be created co-ruler in his father's lifetime. Crowned at fifteen to secure an undisputed succession, Henry played a central role in the politics of Henry II's great empire and was hailed as the embodiment of chivalry. Yet, consistently denied direct rule, the Young King was provoked first into heading a major rebellion against his father, then to waging a bitter war against his brother Richard for control of Aquitaine, dying before reaching the age of thirty having never assumed actual power. In this remarkable history, Matthew Strickland provides a richly colored portrait of an all-but-forgotten royal figure tutored by Thomas Becket, trained in arms by the great knight William Marshal, and incited to rebellion by his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine, while using his career to explore the nature of kingship, succession, dynastic politics, and rebellion in twelfth-century England and France.

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Royalty. --- Henry, --- Henry --- Hendrik --- Henricus --- Plantagenet, Henry, --- Family. --- Great Britain --- Kings and rulers --- History

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

"This prize-winning historical novel, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, centers on the search by conflicting parties for a mottled-skinned boy rumored to be the son of Marie-Antoinette and a man of color. Of mixed-race parentage himself, Daniel Picouly offers a prescient re-creation of postcolonial France in light of its immigrant population"--

Illegitimate children of royalty --- Racially mixed children --- Queens --- Marie Antoinette --- France --- History

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Annotation

Queens --- Royalty --- Rulers --- Sovereigns --- Monarchy --- Women --- Courts and courtiers --- Empresses --- Kings and rulers --- Middle East --- Macedonia --- Arab countries --- History