Edward II
The Unconventional King

2.5. This book has one tendency so ear-flickingly, hair-pullingly annoying that I often wanted to set it down (or, now and then, send it pinwheeling across the room) for that alone. More about that below. So my rating is a weird, unrepresentative average of all-too-sporadic but very high highs and a......more

This was extremely readable and well paced. I was worried because I had seen reviews complaining about the level of detail throwing off the pacing. I did not find that to be the case. That said this is a scholarly biography and not the fashionable biographies with questionable claims and few sources......more

Edward II was a deeply flawed king. In her book Edward II: The Unconventional King, Kathryn Warner doesn’t attempt to hide that fact. However, she also uses meticulous research to debunk myriad myths about Edward II, including the malarkey that he was killed via a hot poker in the rectum. Edward II h......more

I had mentioned in another review that I know very little about Edward II or his reign, except for the obvious, that he was homosexual. And that I wanted to learn more about this time period, and this king. I get the feeling after having read this book, that not a lot of documentation remains that w......more

This book presents an honest portrait of a man, who became king almost by accident, who never wanted to be a king and who never became a king, at least in an conventional sense. Edward II was a man to whom personal loyalty became before the realm, who liked to joke and have some parties, who liked ar......more