Product Description

Isabella was for a time a loyal consort, while Edward lurched from one crisis to another at home and abroad, and transferred his affections from Piers Gaveston to the more sinister favourite, Hugh de Spencer the Younger (ancestor to the late Diana, Princess of Wales), who lost no opportunity to insult the queen. After 13 years she fled abroad, where she fell in love with the exiled Roger Mortimer. Between them they raised an army of mercenaries and successfully deposed Edward, inflicting a gruesome death on Hugh de Spencer. During her years as regent for her young son, the future Edward III, Isabella is believed to have organized the notorious fate of her husband at Berkeley Castle, which eventually resulted in the hanging of Mortimer at Tyburn.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75342 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
Edward II's painful death - caused by a hot iron rammed up his anus - is in the Premier League of well-known historical facts. Less well known is the role played in his murder by his wife, Queen Isabella. In a colourful narrative which provides an evocative setting for a Mafia-like scramble for wealth and power, Paul Doherty traces the life of Philip IV of France's daughter, who was only 12 when she was married to the bisexual Edward. She supported her husband in his many domestic and foreign crises, but later Isabella fled abroad and soon deposed and murdered her husband. However, at the end of this highly readable popular history, Doherty intriguingly suggests that Edward in fact escaped at Berkeley Castle and lived out the rest of his life in peace.

Independent on Sunday, March 23, 2003
Doherty skilfully illuminates the life of the enigmatic Isabella

Alison Weir, Sunday Times, March 16, 2003
'Riveting ... Nobody reading could be left in any doubt that ... Edward's murder at Berkley is open to question.'

Customer Reviews

A new Masterpiece by Paul Doherty
Paul Doherty‘ s new book takes one back to a time which is indeed far removed from ours: English and European medieval history. He does not only shed new light on the historic persons and their personalities but manages to bring a whole area back to life. His medieval novels have already shown his extraordinary ability in this respect and he puts this very ability to full use in this non fictional works. Strictly scientific reading on medieval monarchs is often very tedious reading. Paul Doherty spares the reader that and has created an immensely interesting and readable book. He tackles by that the fate of royal couple whose reputation is all but good. Edward II.‘ s reputation and ill-fated end seems to be so bad that it was for a long time hardly possible to find any books on him. Maybe, as society has become more open and free, people are willing to read about a possible gay or bi-sexual monarch. As for Queen Isabella, she is just known as the „She-Wolf of France“. Paul Doherty puts things into perspectives, explains and recreates their personalities before a historical background. Step by step the reader starts to look through the veil and mist of historic reputation and prejudices. It is a great achievement as the historic reputations of the two main characters is so bad. On the other hands, the book is not a white wash. I could not stop reading this new book by Paul Doherty as it is very well written, immensely readable and fascinating. For me an absolute MUST.

She-Wolf in the spotlight
Despite her quite unique and somewhat infamous position in British history, I've often thought that Isabella is the 'forgotten' queen of the medieval period, losing out to other, equally remarkable queens such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Margaret of Anjou. So it's good to see a scholarly and very readable biography of the woman known as the "She Wolf of France".
Queen Isabella's major achievement is that she supervised the first ever deposition of a King of England, her husband Edward II, and then took over the government of the realm for three years until her son, Edward III, reached his majority - and even then, she didn't surrender it willingly!
Although this is not the longest book, Paul Doherty has done a wonderful job in sketching the life and career of this remarkable Queen - it's a real historical page-turner.
And, as a bonus, the book ends with two chapters which read like a medieval mystery, as Doherty unpicks the evidence in search of the truth behind the untimely death of Edward II.

Falls between two stools
The title of the book is "Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II" and this is its weakness. Either it is supposed to be a biography of Isabella or its a book exporing the death of Edward II, but it fails on both counts. The author covers the death of Edward II less clearly and with less supporting ideas and evidence than Ian Mortimer's two books. Various aspects of Isabella's life are given insufficient attention (for example, her life after Edward III assumed the throne) for this to be a complete biography of Isabella. Finally, her direct involvement in Edward II's "death" is as a minor part rather than as a participant. There are probably better books on this period of history and the relevant people.