We checked this one out of the library to listen to on our long road trip. It is not a book written by one person, but is a collection of works by different authors. Each ruling house is written about by a different historian.
I found this book very interesting. It told the history of England through the lives of its kings and queens. Of course, not a lot is known about some of these monarchs, but what is known is interesting. There were no sensational accounts here, but all accounts seemed to be balanced and based on true history. My 15-year-old nephew thought it was the most boring thing ever, but I found it engaging from the start to the end. It DID get a little drier towards the end as the government of England became more complex--all those prime ministers and Tory and Whig governments and parliament and all that jazz.
It was particularly interesting to me to hear a British point of view on the much vilified King George (the 3rd, I think)--the guy who "lost" the American colonies. According to the British historian, he was a good guy who had bad advisers at the time. Hm.
I enjoyed getting a timeline-like picture of the history of England from the famous 1066 Battle of Hastings (that's the right name, I hope--there were so many battles!) right up to Queen Elizabeth and her disastrous daughters-in-law. And since it was a long book, it took up many driving hours and kept me awake and alert. A good one if you like history.
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