Timeline of Kings & Queens: From Charlemagne to Elizabeth II - Hardcover

The story of monarchy in Europe is a long and extremely bloody one, fraught with appalling violence, scandal and controversy. The position of monarch was once one of absolute power granted by God. Royalty was considered closer to divinity than to the masses. Today this notion is generally frowned upon, and the royal families of Europe spend enormous PR budgets on attempting to convey a sense that their members are just like us . Timeline of Kings and Queens charts the major events in the monarchy of Europe from the very beginnings to the present day, in an attempt to explore among many other things how this ideological u-turn occurred. Compare the lives and careers of monarchs such as Charles I of Spain, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria and learn about Elizabeth I s role in defending England against the Spanish Armada, as well as King Philip II of Spain s motives for provoking a war between the two nations. Discover the truth about the madness of King George III, was he truly out of his mind or suffering simply from the effects of arsenic poisoning? How did Marie Antoinette, a beautiful but naive 14-year-old girl from Vienna become the Queen of France? This illustrated volume allows the reader to view history in panorama, making more sense of the confusing world in which we live. contents The timeline will be split into the following sections: Early Monarchy in Europe Medieval Monarchy Monarchy during the Enlightenment Modern Monarchy (Subject to Change) SALES POINTS A series of up-to-date pocket histories 65 four colour illustrations throughout

Gordon Kerr has worked in book selling, publishing and the wine trade. His journalism includes a regular column on book jacket design for Publishing News and he is a contributing editor to The Book Magazine. His book The Time Traveller s Guide to Georgian London (Watling Street) is published in Autumn 2007. He is the editor of the annual Poetry Writers Yearbook and a limited edition of his poetry, You Can t Get to East Kilbride From Here, illustrated by Ralph Steadman, was published in 2004. He lives in Hampshire and south west France and is married with two children.