John (Penguin Monarchs)

An Evil King?

Nicholas Vincent

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Hardback

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English

Allen Lane
30 July 2020

Biography: historical, political & military; Biography: royalty; History; British & Irish history; Medieval history

Series: Penguin Monarchs

A fascinating portrayal of a complex, unpopular king, defined by the Magna Carta

King John ruled England for seventeen and a half years. For most of that time he enjoyed, if not popularity, then great wealth and power.

Yet to posterity his entire reign has come to be embodied in a single image. Furious, outmanoeuvred, crippled with vice, the King sits at Runnymede sealing or more often (and anachronistically) signing Magna Carta. No matter whether we approach this event as reactionaries wishing that the King would assert himself, as conservatives delighted by the restoration of constitutional 'rights', or as radicals longing for liberty and revolution, Runnymede changes everything in our perception of King John. Seventeen years of history are reduced to a picnic on the banks of the Thames. John is exposed as villainous and pathetic.

The people triumph.

Tyranny is righted.

Nicholas Vincent's fascinating portrayal of a complex man unpicks the character behind one of England's most despised kings. Was he as evil as legend suggests? Or has he been unfairly misunderstood?

By: Nicholas Vincent
Imprint: Allen Lane
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 186mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 212g
ISBN: 9780141977690
ISBN 10: 0141977698
Series: Penguin Monarchs
Pages: 144
Publication Date: 30 July 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Nicholas Vincent is a professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, specializing in twelfth and thirteenth-century history, with a particular current focus on the Magna Carta. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Reviews for John (Penguin Monarchs): An Evil King?

Swashbuckling stuff, and there is only one answer to the question posed by the subtitle. -- George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History at Oxford University