The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy

Download The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1509931031
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (99 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy by : Robert Hazell

Download or read book The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy written by Robert Hazell and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-17 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How much power does a monarch really have? How much autonomy do they enjoy? Who regulates the size of the royal family, their finances, the rules of succession? These are some of the questions considered in this edited collection on the monarchies of Europe. The book is written by experts from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It considers the constitutional and political role of monarchy, its powers and functions, how it is defined and regulated, the laws of succession and royal finances, relations with the media, the popularity of the monarchy and why it endures. No new political theory on this topic has been developed since Bagehot wrote about the monarchy in The English Constitution (1867). The same is true of the other European monarchies. 150 years on, with their formal powers greatly reduced, how has this ancient, hereditary institution managed to survive and what is a modern monarch's role? What theory can be derived about the role of monarchy in advanced democracies, and what lessons can the different European monarchies learn from each other? The public look to the monarchy to represent continuity, stability and tradition, but also want it to be modern, to reflect modern values and be a focus for national identity. The whole institution is shot through with contradictions, myths and misunderstandings. This book should lead to a more realistic debate about our expectations of the monarchy, its role and its future. The contributors are leading experts from all over Europe: Rudy Andeweg, Ian Bradley, Paul Bovend'Eert, Axel Calissendorff, Frank Cranmer, Robert Hazell, Olivia Hepsworth, Luc Heuschling, Helle Krunke, Bob Morris, Roger Mortimore, Lennart Nilsson, Philip Murphy, Quentin Pironnet, Bart van Poelgeest, Frank Prochaska, Charles Powell, Jean Seaton, Eivind Smith.

Modern Monarchy

Download Modern Monarchy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rizzoli Publications
ISBN 13 : 0847864286
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (478 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Modern Monarchy by : Chris Jackson

Download or read book Modern Monarchy written by Chris Jackson and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Photographer Chris Jackson has been by the Royal family's side on domestic visits and overseas tours for the past fifteen years, resulting in an unparalleled photographic archive of the evolving British Royal family. Occupying a front-row seat to history, Jackson's assignments have taken him to the four corners of the Earth to document the extraordinary breadth and devotion of the Royals to causes such as cancer research, mental health, and HIV awareness in Africa. In his own words in captions and texts, he reveals the magic as well as the logistics of what it's like to photograph the Royal family. The result is this unique collection of photographs of the modern British Royal Family the archive of this multi-award winning Royal Photographer and current Royal Photographer of the Year. From the modern-day fairy tale of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding to the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte and their soon-to-be new sibling to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's historic marriage to countless Royal tours in between, this book presents the British Monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II, its most enduring icon, through the lens of one of its most trusted photographers. Whether it's Prince George's first day of school, the Duchess of Cambridge playing cricket in Mumbai, or the Invictus Games, Jackson records moments both large and small with a warmth and sincerity that has made him a media standout. Organized by theme, from State Occasions to Charity works to a typical year in the Royal Diary, this book celebrates fifteen years of the Royals in intimate portraits of a singular family's role on the world stage at a unique moment in time.

Loyalty to the Monarchy in Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain, c.1400-1688

Download Loyalty to the Monarchy in Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain, c.1400-1688 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030377679
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (33 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Loyalty to the Monarchy in Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain, c.1400-1688 by : Matthew Ward

Download or read book Loyalty to the Monarchy in Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain, c.1400-1688 written by Matthew Ward and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the place of loyalty in the relationship between the monarchy and their subjects in late medieval and early modern Britain. It focuses on a period in which political and religious upheaval tested the bonds of loyalty between ruler and ruled. The era also witnessed changes in how loyalty was developed and expressed. The first section focuses on royal propaganda and expressions of loyalty from the gentry and nobility under the Yorkist and early Tudor monarchs, as well as the fifteenth-century Scottish monarchy. The chapters illustrate late-medieval conceptions of loyalty, exploring how they manifested themselves and how they persisted and developed into early modernity. Loyalty to the later Tudors and early Stuarts is scrutinised in the second section, gauging the growing level of dissent in the build-up to the British Civil Wars of the seventeenth century. The final section dissects the role that the concept of loyalty played during and after the Civil Wars, looking at how divergent groups navigated this turbulent period and examining the ways in which loyalty could be used as a means of surviving the upheaval.

Splendid Monarchy

Download Splendid Monarchy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520920988
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (29 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Splendid Monarchy by : Takashi Fujitani

Download or read book Splendid Monarchy written by Takashi Fujitani and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-04-28 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using ceremonials such as imperial weddings and funerals as models, T. Fujitani illustrates what visual symbols and rituals reveal about monarchy, nationalism, city planning, discipline, gender, memory, and modernity. Focusing on the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Fujitani brings recent methods of cultural history to a study of modern Japanese nationalism for the first time. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997. Using ceremonials such as imperial weddings and funerals as models, T. Fujitani illustrates what visual symbols and rituals reveal about monarchy, nationalism, city planning, discipline, gender, memory, and modernity. Focusing on the Meiji Period (1868-19

Wilhelm II

Download Wilhelm II PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521819206
Total Pages : 1320 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (192 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Wilhelm II by : John C. G. Röhl

Download or read book Wilhelm II written by John C. G. Röhl and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-08-19 with total page 1320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) ruled Imperial Germany from his accession in 1888 to his enforced abdication in 1918 at the end of the First World War. This book, based on a wealth of previously unpublished archival material, provides the most detailed account ever written of the first half of his reign. Following on from John Röhl's definitive and highly acclaimed Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888 (1998), the volume demonstrates the monarch's dynastic arrogance and the wounding abuse he showered on his own people as, step by step, he built up his personal power. His thirst for glory, his overweening nationalism and militarism and his passion for the navy provided the impetus for a breathtaking long-term goal: the transformation of the German Reich into the foremost power in the world. Urgent warnings from all sides, both against the revival of a semi-absolute Personal Monarchy on the threshold to the twentieth century and against the challenge his goal of 'world power' implied for the existing World Powers Great Britain, France and Russia were brushed aside by the impetuous young ruler with his faithful military retinue and blindly devoted court favourites. Soon the predicted consequences - constitutional crisis at home and diplomatic isolation abroad - began to make their alarming appearance.

Monarchy Transformed

Download Monarchy Transformed PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1316510247
Total Pages : 407 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (165 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Monarchy Transformed by : Robert von Friedeburg

Download or read book Monarchy Transformed written by Robert von Friedeburg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-17 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Until the 1960s, it was widely assumed that in Western Europe the 'New Monarchy' propelled kingdoms and principalities onto a modern nation-state trajectory. John I of Portugal (1358-1433), Charles VII (1403-1461) and Louis XI (1423-1483) of France, Henry VII and Henry VIII of England (1457-1509, 1509-1553), Isabella of Castile (1474-1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (1479-1516) were, by improving royal administration, by bringing more continuity to communication with their estates and by introducing more regular taxation, all seen to have served that goal. In this view, princes were assigned to the role of developing and implementing the sinews of state as a sovereign entity characterized by the coherence of its territorial borders and its central administration and government. They shed medieval traditions of counsel and instead enforced relations of obedience toward the emerging 'state'."--Provided by publisher.

Mystifying the Monarch

Download Mystifying the Monarch PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Amsterdam University Press
ISBN 13 : 9053567674
Total Pages : 297 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (535 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Mystifying the Monarch by : Jeroen Deploige

Download or read book Mystifying the Monarch written by Jeroen Deploige and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The power of monarchs has traditionally been as much symbolic as actual, rooted in popular imagery of sovereignty, divinity, and authority. In Mystifying the Monarch, a distinguished group of contributors explores the changing nature of that imagery—and its political and social effects—in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day. They demonstrate that, rather than a linear progression where perceptions of rulers moved inexorably from the sacred to the banal, in reality the history of monarchy has been one of constant tension between mystification and demystification.

The Hawaiian Kingdom—Volume 3

Download The Hawaiian Kingdom—Volume 3 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 9780870224331
Total Pages : 1022 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (243 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Hawaiian Kingdom—Volume 3 by : Ralph S. Kuykendall

Download or read book The Hawaiian Kingdom—Volume 3 written by Ralph S. Kuykendall and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1979-02-01 with total page 1022 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The colorful history of the Hawaiian Islands, since their discovery in 1778 by the great British navigator Captain James Cook, falls naturally into three periods. During the first, Hawaii was a monarchy ruled by native kings and queens. Then came the perilous transition period when new leaders, after failing to secure annexation to the United States, set up a miniature republic. The third period began in 1898 when Hawaii by annexation became American territory. The Hawaiian Kingdom, by Ralph S. Kuykendall, is the detailed story of the island monarchy. In the first volume, "Foundation and Transformation," the author gives a brief sketch of old Hawaii before the coming of the Europeans, based on the known and accepted accounts of this early period. He then shows how the arrival of sea rovers, traders, soldiers of forture, whalers, scoundrels, missionaries, and statesmen transformed the native kingdom, and how the foundations of modern Hawaii were laid. In the second volume, "Twenty Critical Years," the author deals with the middle period of the kingdom's history, when Hawaii was trying to insure her independence while world powers maneuvered for dominance in the Pacific. It was an important period with distinct and well-marked characteristics, but the noteworthy changes and advances which occurred have received less attention from students of history than they deserve. Much of the material is taken from manuscript sources and appears in print for the first time in the second volume. The third and final volume of this distinguished trilogy, "The Kalakaua Dynasty," covers the colorful reign of King Kalakaua, the Merry Monarch, and the brief and tragic rule of his successor, Queen Liliuokalani. This volume is enlivened by such controversial personages as Claus Spreckels, Walter Murray Gibson, and Celso Caesar Moreno. Through it runs the thread of the reciprocity treaty with the United States, its stimulating effect upon the island economy, and the far-reaching consequences of immigration from the Orient to supply plantation labor. The trilogy closes with the events leading to the downfall of the Hawaiian monarchy and the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1893.

Queens and Power in Medieval and Early Modern England

Download Queens and Power in Medieval and Early Modern England PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
ISBN 13 : 0803229682
Total Pages : 361 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (32 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Queens and Power in Medieval and Early Modern England by : Carole Levin

Download or read book Queens and Power in Medieval and Early Modern England written by Carole Levin and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2009-03-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Queens and Power in Medieval and Early Modern England, Carole Levin and Robert Bucholz provide a forum for the underexamined, anomalous reigns of queens in history. These regimes, primarily regarded as interruptions to the ?normal? male monarchy, have been examined largely as isolated cases. This interdisciplinary study of queens throughout history examines their connections to one another, their constituents? perceptions of them, and the fallacies of their historical reputations. The contributors consider historical queens as well as fictional, mythic, and biblical queens and how they were represented in medieval and early modern England. They also give modern readers a glimpse into the early modern worldview, particularly regarding order, hierarchy, rulership, property, biology, and the relationship between the sexes. Considering topics as diverse as how Queen Elizabeth?s unmarried status affected the perception of her as a just and merciful queen to a reevaluation of ?good Queen Anne? as more than just an obese, conventional monarch, this volume encourages readers to reexamine previously held assumptions about the role of female monarchs in early modern history.

Sacral Kingship Between Disenchantment and Re-enchantment

Download Sacral Kingship Between Disenchantment and Re-enchantment PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Berghahn Books
ISBN 13 : 1782383573
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (823 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sacral Kingship Between Disenchantment and Re-enchantment by : Ronald G. Asch

Download or read book Sacral Kingship Between Disenchantment and Re-enchantment written by Ronald G. Asch and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: France and England are often seen as monarchies standing at opposite ends of the spectrum of seventeenth-century European political culture. On the one hand the Bourbon monarchy took the high road to absolutism, while on the other the Stuarts never quite recovered from the diminution of their royal authority following the regicide of Charles I in 1649. However, both monarchies shared a common medieval heritage of sacral kingship, and their histories remained deeply entangled throughout the century. This study focuses on the interaction between ideas of monarchy and images of power in the two countries between the execution of Mary Queen of Scots and the Glorious Revolution. It demonstrates that even in periods when politics were seemingly secularized, as in France at the end of the Wars of Religion, and in latter seventeenth- century England, the appeal to religious images and values still lent legitimacy to royal authority by emphasizing the sacral aura or providential role which church and religion conferred on monarchs.

The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815

Download The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521785051
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (85 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815 by : Charles W. Ingrao

Download or read book The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815 written by Charles W. Ingrao and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-06-29 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a revised and updated edition of a highly acclaimed history of the early modern Habsburg monarchy. Charles W. Ingrao challenges the conventional notion of Habsburg state and society as peculiarly backward by tracing its emergence as a military and cultural power of enormous influence. The Habsburg monarchy was undeniably different from other European polities: geography and linguistic diversity made this inevitable, but by 1789 it had laid the groundwork for a single polity capable of transcending its uniquely diverse cultural and historic heritage. Charles W. Ingrao unravels the web of social, political, economic and cultural factors that shaped the Habsburg monarchy during the period, and presents this complex story in a manner that is both authoritative and accessible to non-specialists. This edition includes a revised text and bibliographies, new genealogical tables, and an epilogue which looks forward to the impact of the Habsburg monarchy on twentieth-century events.

Monarchs, Ministers, and Maps

Download Monarchs, Ministers, and Maps PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226079875
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (798 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Monarchs, Ministers, and Maps by : David Buisseret

Download or read book Monarchs, Ministers, and Maps written by David Buisseret and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1992-12-15 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These diverse essays investigate political factors behind the rapid development of cartography in Renaissance Europe and its impact on emerging European nations. By 1500 a few rulers had already discovered that better knowledge of their lands would strengthen their control over them; by 1550, the cartographer's art had become an important instrument for bringing territories under the control of centralized government. Throughout the following century increasing governmental reliance on maps demanded greater accuracy and more sophisticated techniques. This volume, a detailed survey of the political uses of cartography between 1400 and 1700 in Europe, answers these questions: When did monarchs and ministers begin to perceive that maps could be useful in government? For what purposes were maps commissioned? How accurate and useful were they? How did cartographic knowledge strengthen the hand of government? By focusing on particular places and periods in early modern Europe, the chapters offer new insights into the growth of cartography as a science, the impetus behind these developments - often rulers attempting to expand their power - and the role of mapmaking in European history. The essay on Poland reveals that cartographic progress came only under the impetus of powerful rulers; another explores the French monarchy's role in the burst of scientific cartography that marked the opening of the "splendid century". Additional chapters discuss the profound influence of cartographic ideas on the English aristocracy during the sixteenth century, the relation of progress in mapmaking to imperialistic goals of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs, and the supposed primacy of Italian mapmakingfollowing the Renaissance. Contributors to this volume are Peter Barber, David Buisseret, John Marino, Michael J. Mikos, Geoffrey Parker, and James Vann. These essays were originally presented as the Kenneth Nebenzahl, Jr., Lectures in the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library.

Royal Tourism

Download Royal Tourism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Channel View Publications
ISBN 13 : 1845410807
Total Pages : 277 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (454 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Royal Tourism by : Phil Long

Download or read book Royal Tourism written by Phil Long and published by Channel View Publications. This book was released on 2008 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The relationships between tourism and royalty have received little coverage in the tourism literature. This volume provides a critical exploration of the relationships between royalty and tourism past, present, and future from a range of disciplinary perspectives.

The Monarchy of Fear

Download The Monarchy of Fear PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1501172514
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (11 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Monarchy of Fear by : Martha C. Nussbaum

Download or read book The Monarchy of Fear written by Martha C. Nussbaum and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the world’s most celebrated moral philosophers comes a thorough examination of the current political crisis and recommendations for how to mend our divided country. For decades Martha C. Nussbaum has been an acclaimed scholar and humanist, earning dozens of honors for her books and essays. In The Monarchy of Fear she turns her attention to the current political crisis that has polarized American since the 2016 election. Although today’s atmosphere is marked by partisanship, divisive rhetoric, and the inability of two halves of the country to communicate with one another, Nussbaum focuses on what so many pollsters and pundits have overlooked. She sees a simple truth at the heart of the problem: the political is always emotional. Globalization has produced feelings of powerlessness in millions of people in the West. That sense of powerlessness bubbles into resentment and blame. Blame of immigrants. Blame of Muslims. Blame of other races. Blame of cultural elites. While this politics of blame is exemplified by the election of Donald Trump and the vote for Brexit, Nussbaum argues it can be found on all sides of the political spectrum, left or right. Drawing on a mix of historical and contemporary examples, from classical Athens to the musical Hamilton, The Monarchy of Fear untangles this web of feelings and provides a roadmap of where to go next.

The Habsburg Monarchy 1815-1918

Download The Habsburg Monarchy 1815-1918 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107091896
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (7 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Habsburg Monarchy 1815-1918 by : Steven Beller

Download or read book The Habsburg Monarchy 1815-1918 written by Steven Beller and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-10 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction: Austria and modernity -- 1815-1835: restoration and procrastination -- 1835-1851: revolution and reaction -- 1852-1867: transformation -- 1867-1879: liberalization -- 1879-1897: nationalization -- 1897-1914: modernization -- 1914-1918: self-destruction -- Conclusion: Central Europe and the paths not taken

Visualising Protestant Monarchy

Download Visualising Protestant Monarchy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
ISBN 13 : 1783275448
Total Pages : 423 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (832 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Visualising Protestant Monarchy by : Julie Farguson

Download or read book Visualising Protestant Monarchy written by Julie Farguson and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2021 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive, comparative study of the visual culture of monarchy in the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne

Crown & Sceptre

Download Crown & Sceptre PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Grove Atlantic
ISBN 13 : 0802159117
Total Pages : 399 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (21 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Crown & Sceptre by : Tracy Borman

Download or read book Crown & Sceptre written by Tracy Borman and published by Grove Atlantic. This book was released on 2022-02-22 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth look at the British monarchy that’s “a superb synthesis of historical analysis, politics, and top-notch royal gossip” (Kirkus Reviews). Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, forty-one kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne. “Shining examples of royal power and majesty alongside a rogue’s gallery of weak, lazy, or evil monarchs,” as Tracy Borman describes them in her sparkling chronicle, Crown & Sceptre. Ironically, during very few of these 955 years has the throne’s occupant been unambiguously English—whether Norman French, the Welsh-born Tudors, the Scottish Stuarts, and the Hanoverians and their German successors to the present day. Acknowledging the intrinsic fascination with British royalty, Borman lifts the veil to reveal the remarkable characters and personalities who have ruled and, since the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, more ceremonially reigned. It is a crucial distinction explaining the staying power of the monarchy as the royal family has evolved and adapted to the needs and opinions of its people, avoiding the storms of rebellion that brought many of Europe’s royals to an abrupt end. Richard II; Henry VIII; Elizabeth I; George III; Victoria; Elizabeth II: their names evoke eras and the dramatic events Borman recounts. She is equally attuned to the fabric of monarchy: royal palaces; the way monarchs have been portrayed in art, on coins, in the media; the ceremony and pageantry surrounding the crown. Elizabeth II is already one of the longest reigning monarchs in history. Crown & Sceptre is a fitting tribute to her remarkable longevity and that of the magnificent institution she represents. “Crown & Sceptre brings us in short, vivid chapters from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth herself, much of it constituting a dark record of bumping off adversaries, rivals and spouses, confiscating vast estates and military invasions…. [A] lucid, character-rich book.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Borman’s deep understanding of English royalty shines.” —Chris Schluep, Amazon Editors’ Picks, The Best History Books of February 2022