cover image Kings and Queens of England

Kings and Queens of England

Brenda Ralph Lewis. Reader's Digest Association, $30 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-7621-0406-2

This chronological survey covers a thousand years of English royalty, from the Norman conquest through today's troubled Windsors. According to Lewis, a regular contributor to Royalty magazine, the British royals'""sensational and often lurid past contains deeds so dark and dastardly that they were covered up and remained secret for centuries."" Treachery, treason and regicide reign supreme in this account: thus we read of a plot against a kidnapped Richard the Lionheart by his own brother, John; Lambert Simmel's attempt to trick the Tudors out of their crown; and the well-known trouble of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. This breezy narrative is spiked with sidebars, such as""Fact or Fiction"" (were the young Edward V and his brother murdered in the Tower of London in the late 15th century?) and""Deeds of Power"" (Mary, Queen of Scots's angering of her nobles and her own husband, and their bloody revenge). With more than 200 illustrations, this could be an appealing gift for younger readers intrigued by the powerful and intrigue-laden world of royalty.