The Mighty Warrior Kings is a fabulous little book crammed full of (sometimes dull and/or dreary) histories of some of history's most notable men. They may not have always been commendable, mind you, but gorge yourself on the warmongering likes of Charlemagne, Robert the Bruce, and William the Conqueror, among several others. The book is well-written and fairly succinct (it includes the lives of nine monarchs), though at times the pillaging and begetting to get a little dry. A fantastic way to brush up on your history from the perspective of the victors.

A really well written and most importantly interesting read on the some of the kings that stood out after the Roman Empire perfect for history readers.

If you enjoy military history, you are going to LOVE this book! I have always been a fan of many of these figures, and getting a good in-depth view of their beginnings, their backgrounds, and what drove them to become the top dogs in their field was more than I could have ever dreamed.
Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, Richard the Lionheart, and Robert the Bruce are just a few of the big names that are talked about in this book!

I enjoyed this read, and look forward to what else this author will have to share!

Warrior Kings: From the Ashes of the Roman Empire to the New Ruling order by Philip J Potter covers a subject matter that is right down my alley. As a history junkie, particularly of antiquity, I was looking forward to reading this one very much.

Phillip Potter has penned several books covering various characters and periods of history such as Explorers of North America, Kings and Queens of the Renaissance, Gothic Kings of Britain and so on. So, this guy has form and he cite countless references throughout the book, the facts come flying at you thick and fast and I enjoyed the fact the author didn’t make too many editorial comments about these fascinating characters – leaving this up to the reader, I liked that.

The most enjoyable chapters for me were those about Alfred of Wessex, who finally achieved some sort of United England. Richard the Lion Heart, a terrific leader who ruled England and Western France and Robert I the Bruce the famous Scottish Warrior.

Now, I only have two criticisms and the first is qualified. As I obtained this book in a format (from NetGalley) that may not have any resemblance to the printed/hardcopy product this observation may be misleading BUT, a book like this needs plenty of maps, pictures, drawings, diagrams. Now the version I received did have a number of these at the end of the book, but not throughout. Also, the text didn’t refer to these illustrations – so I only discovered them at the end.

Secondly, there is so much information here it is delivered in massive slabs of text. The reader, especially a layperson such as I need a book such as this to have more headings, sections (and illustrations) throughout to make it more visually appealing – otherwise it’s a bit tiring.
Having said that – I did enjoy this book.

4 stars

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The problem with any historical figure is that most of us learn about through novels or movies - and most of what we learn is adapted to fit the plot, or just simply wrong. "The Mighty Warrior Kings" gives us an in-depth look into the lives of nine kings, all names that will probably be familiar. My husband would like me to give the book 1 star for the simple fact that I kept interrupting his reading with "Oh, that's fascinating. Did you know...?"! But no, this is a 5 star book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Interesting book about medieval kings of Europe. Most of us only remember the historical figures we have seen in movies, so reading in depth does feel like more effort. However, the book does have details that we would not normally find easily, so history buffs are sure to find it engrossing.
The only thing I found missing was probably some illustrations to break the dense prose, for example sketches of these kings or maps of the regions they ruled over or even their family trees.