The medieval time period is not one I’m very familiar with. That being said, I enjoyed this book. I, personally, would have liked a few more details on each ruler. But very fascinating and thorough research done for this title.

This was a very informative and entertaining chronicle of the Medieval royalty of Europe. The author clearly did his research.

History is a great love of mine. I devour historically accurate stories of the past because it gives me insight into what people dealt with in a time so different from mine. While I am no historical scholar, I can not provide feedback on the accuracy of the book but I can tell you it was an easy and exciting read. This book is a great place to start if you want to familiarize yourself with the Kings and Queens of the Medieval World.

I found this book very well written and researched, while it does not go into great detail on the individual kings and queens it gives a good overview

This was a good book. I really enjoyed learning all the different histories. Joanna was definitely my favorite section. She just seemed like an interesting queen. The art was very nice too.

This was a good book. I am a history major and thought this read well for any audience. There were some rulers whom I never heard of so that was interesting to get a look into them and learn something new!

A fascinating look at the legacies of well-known (and some not so well-known) rulers of the Middle Ages, told through short summaries and arranged by category (warriors, legislators, religious rulers, etc.). While the categories was an interesting way to group them, I wonder if chronological would've been better - made a more congruous path for better understanding? I also would've loved a map of Europe from the Middle Ages that showed the various territories with the names they went by then (Bohemia, Anjou, etc.). And more artwork please!

Really great for those who do have an interest in Medival England. Get a lot of introductions to a number of royalty during the Middle Ages. Other information is introduced with gray backgrounds separating it a bit from the king or queen.

A fantastic addition to the library of any fan of royal history. What a reader finds is a brief summary of many lesser-known figures who played large roles along with well-known names. They are listed by name, what they are famous for, and the dates they lived. if you are beginning your journey of learning about the royal figures of medieval times or needed a research book for a paper this is a wonderful place to start.

<b>AN ORIGINAL BIOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION WITH FLAWS

Actual rating: 2.5 ⭐</b>

Being a historian specialized in medieval queenship this book instantly spoke to me. There were some things that I liked and at first I was very positive, but as I got further on, flaws started to appear and it pulled down the overall experience for me.

<b>👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍</b>

<u>Categories</u>: The kings of this book was organised into categories such as military leaders, lawmakers and crusaders. It showed off the characters favorably and I enjoyed reading about the different kings in this kind of context.

<u>Writing</u>: Being a historian myself I especially admired how easily Dougherty managed to convey these very complex stories in such a short, informative and concise way.

<b>👎 WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE 👎</b>

<u>Queen category</u>: Yes, I liked that the kings were arranged by categories. But I VERY MUCH disliked that the queens had a category of their own - to me, it conveyed that queens couldn't be military leaders (like Empress Matilda), lawmakers (like Margaret of Denmark) or crusaders (like Eleanor of Aquitaine). And to that I can only say humbug!

<u>Anglo centric</u>: I am very pro-English and have focused primarily on English history. However, that wasn't the general idea of this book - it was supposed to deal with European king- and queenship. Even so, it dealt A LOT with English kings, a few French ones and the odd Italian, Dane, German and Russian. It felt off when considering the overall scope of the books.

This is a great coffee table book or maybe high school textbook, not something I would recommend to any amateur history buffs such as myself. It was well written, and I especially loved the illustrations throughout the book. It ended rather abruptly so I was not a fan of that and there was some repeating of individuals named with some stories essentially repeated when it could have just been listed as a reference note (aka, for mor window go to page xx),

This book suffers from the same problems as the last book I read from this author: the lists the different kings and queens and gives a short overview of their lives and accomplishments, but I would have preferred a more in-depth approach.

I have two problems with this book. The first is that, although it is about rulers of the Middle Ages & has many illustrations, few of those are from earlier than the 1700’s and most are from the Nineteenth Century. Victorian ideas of the Middle Ages are not exactly accurate. The historians writing the book should know this. Their overwhelming presence calls into question the accuracy of the text.

This brings me to the second problem: the book is dull. It has less wit than an encyclopedia article. When there are plenty of colorful incidents in the lives of these rulers, why aren’t some of them included. Instead, we are given a dull recitation of facts. If the intent of the authors is to get us to want to learn more, the book has the opposite effect.

I'm fascinated by Medieval world and I liked this well researched and well written book.
It was an engrossing and informative read.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book, it was really enlightening to read about royals that we don't normally hear about.

The only thing is that I read it as an ebook and it was harder to see the pictures properly, this was clearly meant to be read as a hardcover book.