Product Description

He ordered his uncle to be beheaded; he usurped his father's throne; and, he started a war which lasted for more than a hundred years, and taxed his people more than any other previous king. Yet for centuries Edward III was celebrated as the most brilliant king England had ever had, and three hundred years after his death it was said that his kingship was perhaps the greatest that the world had ever known. In this first full study of the man's character and life, Ian Mortimer shows how Edward personally provided the impetus for much of the drama of his fifty-year reign. Edward overcame the tyranny of his guardians at the age of seventeen and then set about developing a new form of awe-inspiring chivalric kingship. Under him the feudal kingdom of England became a highly organised, sophisticated nation, capable of raising large revenues and deploying a new type of projectile-based warfare, and without question the most important military nation in Europe.Yet under his rule England also experienced its longest period of domestic peace in the middle ages, giving rise to a massive increase of the nation's wealth through the wool trade, with huge consequences for society, art and architecture. It is to Edward that we owe our system of parliamentary representation, our local justice system, our national flag and the English language as the 'tongue of the nation'. Nineteenth century historians saw in Edward the opportunity to decry a warmonger, and painted him as a self-seeking, rapacious, tax-gathering conqueror. Yet as this book shows, beneath the strong warrior king was a compassionate, conscientious and often merciful man - resolute yet devoted to his wife, friends and family. He emerges as a strikingly modern figure, to whom many will be able to relate - the father of both the English nation and the English people.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5170 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

About the Author
Ian Mortimer was educated at Eastbourne College, Exeter University and University College London. He has worked for several archival and historical research organisations, including Devon Record Office, Reading University, the Historical Manuscripts Commission and Exeter University. He is married with three children and lives on the edge of Dartmoor. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1998 and his most recent book is The Greatest Traitor (published by Cape in 2003).

Customer Reviews

The absolutely perfect read
Ian Mortimer's Life of Edward III is an example of that rare beast, the almost perfect book. He creates an atmosphere which allows the reader to not only be 'in the zone' but in the room with the people he is writing about. Edward actually lives in this book and I have to confess that I fell in love with him. The factual information about Edward is exquisitely presented by Mr Mortimer to make this a very rounded portrait of our very long-lived King. I carried this book around with me [started it in France, took it to the UK on a visit, then returned to my home in France to finish] until I had read every word and became distressed at the turning of the last page, almost as if I had suffered a bereavement i.e (1) the end of the book and (2) the extremely sad final moments in Edward's life. This book does what ALL history books should do - transports the reader to another time and place. Highly recommended piece of reading.

Edward III: Warrior-king,
Ian Mortimer's account of Edward III's life was stunning, compeling, and sorely great. I loved turing the pages of the book to find out how one man changed the English nation forever. Edward was the most important English monarch of the Middle Ages. He certianly was the father of the English nation as Mortimer clearly states.

The book is arranged in seventeen parts from the intro to the summing up. All of Edward's battles are clearly evident as we read. We find out that Edward III, like Napoleon, Caesar, and Alexander, loved being in the thick of the action. He would fight alongside his men with the greatest of courage and he would make them conquer their own fears in the heat of the battle.

Another great project of the book was showing how Edward became a great statesman and created many laws which still hold relevance in the modern world. Mortimer also gave us Edward III's five great achievements

1.Kingship
2.Domestic Peace
3.International Standing
4.Modrenized Warfare
5.Participatory Government

These five achievements really summed up Edward's greatness as king. And Edward's character was clearly seen for the first time. He was brave, loyal, religious, merciful, and fair-and that is a really good box of traits for a medieval man.

Mortimers book is the greatest of its kind. A really splendid and firsthand account of Edward III. It is, in my opinion, the best book ever written on him.

A brolliant biography
A great biography. In an age when absolute monarchy was the norm this books message confirms why Edward III should be placed at the head of all other monarchs.