Gimson's Kings and Queens: Brief lives of the monarchs since 1066

"A few faults are indispensable to a really popular monarch." (George Bernard Shaw). Gimson's Kings and Queens whirls us through the lives of our monarchs - from 1066 and William the Conqueror right up to Queen Elizabeth II and the present-day - to tell a tale of bastardy, courage, conquest, brutality, vanity, vulgarity, corruption, anarchy, absenteeism, piety, nobility, divorce, execution, civil war, madness, magnificence, profligacy, frugality, philately, abdication, dutifulness, family breakdown and family recovery. Written in Andrew Gimson's inimitable style, and illustrated by Martin Rowson, Gimson's Kings and Queens is both a primer and a refresher for anyone who can't quite remember which were the good and bad Edwards or Henrys, or why so-and-so succeeded to the throne rather than his second cousin. Published in August 2015, to coincide with the moment (in September) when Elizabeth II will (barring accident or shock abdication) become the longest-serving English monarch ever, Gimson's Kings and Queens will be the most entertaining and instructive book on the English monarchy you will ever read.