Solid

You can hear Marc Morris talking about King John on the BBC History Today podcast. He's an engaging speaker with a PhD in medieval history so I decided this was worth a listen. What you get is a nuts and bolts life of John which comes to life when Morris uses his in-depth knowledge of life in medieval Britain to show how a strange alliance of nobles from East Anglia, the north of England, Wales and Scotland collaborated with the sharp witted merchants of London to create Magna Carta. He goes on to make the case that John was just as bad as his subsequent reputation suggests.

Morris is too disciplined a historian to offer similar character portraits of other characters in the story. That's an understandable choice but John Julius Norwich's "Shakespeare's Kings", which tackles similar material was fun because he was interested in characters and willing to stick his neck out. So at times this suffered a little for me by being a slightly flat retelling of events. In addition to that, the narrator adopts a slightly irritating tone of archness throughout so just three stars for him.

However, overall it's worth a listen on the basis of an interesting life illuminated by many interesting details of medieval life alongside a fascinating dissection of magna carta

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39 people found this helpful

Interesting Book

Well read, however quite a few chapters are in the wrong order which was annoying as I had to keep going back to the contents and wait for the narrator to state the dates covered by that chapter before deciding which chapter to read.

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The story jumps about between time periods.

Very thorough, however, a bit confusing which time period he is talking about as it jumps about.

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Fascinating!

One of the most timely, well written and well researched history books I've heard!

Excellent book, great narrator!

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An odd double tale

In a physical book, it might have seemed like a weird and clever idea to follow two strands in King John's life, ping-ponging back and forth chapter by chapter, but in an audio book it simply does not work.
Good, solid historical information. Not, sadly, helped by a voice too proud of its own exaggeration.

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2 people found this helpful

Alas, gave it up

I feel rather hopeless not to have finished the book, but after the description of Matilda de Briouze's death, felt I had probably reached the climax of Bad King John's doings and gave up before the Magna Carta.

The whole story of John's reign is like a nightmare - too many kingdoms, too far apart, never enough money in the royal coffers to ensure that peace could be adequately maintained across the whole of his realms therefore a constant need to tax his subjects, leading to further unpopularity. The mechanism of taxation is interesting together with the explanations of monetary sums. But the book is full of endless petty politics and I didn't find it easy to listen to as an audible book - too many names, too many place names - you needed a map of France together with a dramatic personae list of nobles. Also I found the time-switches irritating - one chapter discusses a six year period of John's reign, the next you find yourself back in the reign of his brother Richard, or even his father Henry II.

I found the narrator Ric Jerrom irritating. Sorry about this. But his pronunciations of English place names (viz Odiham) and other words showed he had not done his homework.

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A revelation

I knew so little about King John. This book was a real eye opener. I caught myself thinking him unlucky and a victim of circumstances, but he was a deeply unpleasant man. He commanded few loyalties from his kinsmen.

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Sound outline of John reign

A sound objective outline of the reign of King John, his life and time. The narrative is not consecutive and someone unfamiliar with the history may find it a little confusing. The authors own judgments on King John are reserved for the end of the book,

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Content

Too much of a list of dates and facts. So very hard to listen to

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A great take on a well known story

Really enjoyed this retelling of the story of King John, an in depth and fascinating insight into one of England's more controversial Kings. From his relationship with his brothers to his various and ultimately disasterous campaigns in Europe and closer to home. Far more than just Magna Carter a great way to learn about a underated period of England's history.

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