Henry II: Volume 5 (The English Monarchs Series) - Softcover

Warren, W. L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520034945 ISBN 13: 9780520034945

Publisher: University of California Press, 1992

Synopsis

Henry II was an enigma to contemporaries, and has excited widely divergent judgments ever since. Dramatic incidents of his reign, such as his quarrel with Archbishop Becket and his troubled relations with his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his sons, have attracted the attention of historical novelists, playwrights, and filmmakers, but with no unanimity of interpretation. That he was a great king there can be no doubt. Yet his motives and intentions are not easy to divine, and it is Professor Warren's contention that concentration on the great crises of the reign can lead to distortion. This book is therefore a comprehensive reappraisal of the reign based, with rare understanding, on contemporary sources; it provides a coherent and persuasive revaluation of the man and the king, and is, in itself an eloquent and impressive achievement.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"This must surely rank as one of the classic historical biographies...it will hold its place not only as a work of reference but as a piece of historical literature."--Observer

"W. L. Warren has written a life of the great Angevin whose scholarship and fair-mindedness should make it the classic account for the next fifty years. . . . Dr. Warren's monumental celebration is made to last."--The Times

"The result is masterly. . . . it is alive all through, a fine work by a professional historian who can write and has an eye for significant detail, without burying us under it."--Sunday Telegraph

From the Inside Flap

Henry II was an enigma to contemporaries, and has excited widely divergent judgements ever since. Dramatic incidents of his reign, such as his quarrel with Archbishop Becket and his troubled relations with his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his sons, have attracted the attention of historical novelists, playwrights and filmmakers, but with no unanimity of interpretation. That he was a great king there can be no doubt. Yet his motives and intentions are not easy to divine, and it is Professor Warren's contention that concentration on the great crises of the reign can lead to distortion. This book is therefore a comprehensive reappraisal of the reign based, with rare understanding, on contemporary sources; it provides a coherent and persuasive revaluation of the man and the king, and is, in itself, an eloquent and impressive achievement.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520034945
• ISBN 13: 9780520034945
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 350