Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Good Things Come in Small PackagesComment: One of my favourites, and will surely become yours! Colour-coded sections cover 1. Pre-Saxon Rule; 2. Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; 3. Saxons, Normans and Plantagenets; 4. Tudors and Stuarts; 5. Hanover to Windsor. The Compendium (part 6) includes Crown Jewels, Nicknames, and Genealogical Charts.
It is particularly good on ancient British chiefs and Celtic tribes, rarely covered in other guides. A short two-page overview of each monarch is preceded by a summary box containing birth and death dates and places, parentage, accession to the throne, coronation, authority (i.e. status and titles), death date and burial details.
The major public and personal events of each reign are outlined. Also, there are features on such events as the Roman Conquest, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Wars of the Roses, the Gunpowder Plot, Home Rule and the British Empire. Contemporary illustrations, e.g. the Bayeux Tapestry for the Norman Conquest, lend period flavour.
A perfect introduction, overview, or review. It's a useful first source before proceeding to longer royal histories or individual biographies.
Essential.
