A Warrior King - a biography of mixed value - but at least there is a new biography on the King
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The renewed interest in the reign of Edward II was bound to trigger new interest in the reign of his son and heir Edward III. Ian Mortimer had already set the stage with his excellent biography on the Earl of March (the Greatest Traitor). It is a welcome and logic move to follow this book up with a biography of Edward III.
The title of the biography is already a clear indication how Ian Mortimer sees the king. However, Ian Mortimer even goes a step further and starts his book however with a chapter how he wants to see Edward III and re-establish the king's reputation. I am not sure that this was a wise move as the following chapter only partly supports the sweeping statement of a perfect king.
Nevertheless the book covers one of the longest reign of an English king in an in-depth manner giving the reader a lot of information to form her/his very own opinion. I am a bit split what to think. On one hand the king laid the foundations for many political, social, military and cultural tradition of the country. His reign was a successful one. On the other hand there was constant war. We might have today a different view on the merits of warfare, so it might be wrong to judge him according to our standards. Nevertheless war was never a good thing - neither then nor today. So you can have your pick what is more important to you.
What I did miss in the assessment were the long-term consequences of his reign and rule. Yes, he established many long lasting traditions and institutions, but his direct legacy was quite disastrous for England as he did not provide for a secure transition of power and many of his action laid as well the foundations for the War of the Roses.
One last word to editing: in my view it is absolutely dreadful. The chapters are far too long, far too detailed and really difficult to read. Honestly, quite often I had enough of this book and had to force myself to continue reading. I do not like this t all. I am not a scholar or want to do my PhD on Edward III, so one should adopt this book more for popular reading. It can be done as the book on the Earl of March proved.
So all in all not a bad book, hard reading due to the dreadful editing, but lots of information giving in spite of the first chapter enough room to form one's own opinion. 3 or 4 is a fair assesment. So I choosse the better option.
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