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pauldyett's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable and very readable history of an overlooked part of the preTudor period. Lots of information new to me and clearly well researched with lots of original material.
book_baron's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
A little biased, with some grammatical errors.
Overall a good read.
Overall a good read.
suggsygirl's review against another edition
4.0
What a fabulous book! This is one of the best non-fiction history books I have ever read. It was informative but it didn't deliver the facts in a dry way. It made you care about pretty much all the 'characters' and tried to show them in a balanced light. It also gave you hypotheses while letting you know precisely what evidence there was for it but explaining the thinking too using absences in historical records as much as entries. It was just really clever but not too academical and really accessible from a knowledge point of view. Now on to the bad...
The font size is a joke. I know I'm getting old (43) and my eyes aren't great (they have never been great, I had glasses as an 18 month old) however I showed the book to my partner who has 20/20 vision and even he said the font size was ridiculously small. I got a headache every time I sat down to read. If the book wasn't so interesting I would have definitely given up!
The font size is a joke. I know I'm getting old (43) and my eyes aren't great (they have never been great, I had glasses as an 18 month old) however I showed the book to my partner who has 20/20 vision and even he said the font size was ridiculously small. I got a headache every time I sat down to read. If the book wasn't so interesting I would have definitely given up!
14milemama's review
2.5
Surprised dry given the socio political DRAMA of the subject. Didn’t effectively establish an engaging narrative through line or POV.
annikahipple's review against another edition
3.0
The first generation of Beauforts—John, Henry, Thomas, and Joan—were the illegitimate (though later legitimized) children of John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of Edward III, by his mistress (later third wife), Katherine Swynford (born de Roet). As close relatives of the Lancastrian kings of England (Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI), who also descended from John of Gaunt, they played important roles in the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses, conflicts that dominated much of the 15th century in England and France. In my extensive reading about the period I have encountered the Beauforts many times, and I had been wanting to read a book that places the family front and center.
(See for example my review of Alison Weir's book about Katherine Swynford.)
This book satisfies that wish by telling the story of the Beaufort family through three generations, from its origins in the 1370s to the death of the last male Beaufort a century later. It ends with a brief mention of the dynasty's ultimate triumph as Henry Tudor, whose mother was Margaret Beaufort, defeats Richard III to claim the throne of England. By the end of the book I had a clear sense of the family's trajectory and its importance in British history.
That said, the book suffers from an abundance of editorial flaws. Many sentences contain extraneous words (along the lines of "He said to the his brother...") or are missing necessary words. There are errors of clausal agreement and misplaced modifiers throughout. Overall, the book does not appear to have been reviewed by a competent copy editor.
Although I am familiar with the places involved, I would have liked a map for easy reference. The family tree was also a bit too basic, lacking birth and death dates and leaving out one daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset. This daughter, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon, is mentioned only a handful of times in the book. It would have been nice to learn a little more about her, even if her children were Courtenays, not Beauforts. Even her namesake niece, the better-known Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor, isn't covered in much depth, though she pops up more frequently in the narrative.
In sum, this was a decent history marred by editorial issues, though still worth a read for anyone interested in this period of English history.
(See for example my review of Alison Weir's book about Katherine Swynford.)
This book satisfies that wish by telling the story of the Beaufort family through three generations, from its origins in the 1370s to the death of the last male Beaufort a century later. It ends with a brief mention of the dynasty's ultimate triumph as Henry Tudor, whose mother was Margaret Beaufort, defeats Richard III to claim the throne of England. By the end of the book I had a clear sense of the family's trajectory and its importance in British history.
That said, the book suffers from an abundance of editorial flaws. Many sentences contain extraneous words (along the lines of "He said to the his brother...") or are missing necessary words. There are errors of clausal agreement and misplaced modifiers throughout. Overall, the book does not appear to have been reviewed by a competent copy editor.
Although I am familiar with the places involved, I would have liked a map for easy reference. The family tree was also a bit too basic, lacking birth and death dates and leaving out one daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset. This daughter, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon, is mentioned only a handful of times in the book. It would have been nice to learn a little more about her, even if her children were Courtenays, not Beauforts. Even her namesake niece, the better-known Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor, isn't covered in much depth, though she pops up more frequently in the narrative.
In sum, this was a decent history marred by editorial issues, though still worth a read for anyone interested in this period of English history.
tahlia__nerds_out's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
I really enjoyed this book, switching back and forth between kindle edition and the audiobook, depending on which edition was more convenient to me at the time. The reader was easy to listen to, the author enjoyable to read, and the family discussed very interesting. My main issue was that when the author quoted contemporary sources, he kept their original spelling of words. While I appreciated the authenticity, it made understanding those sections much harder when reading the kindle vs listening to the audiobook. While I usually could figure out the gist of what the sources were saying, it would have been nice if the author had provided a translation underneath as I have seen other authors do (granted, for early medieval English history rather than late medieval); even adding a translation in the footnotes would have been appreciated. Other than that minor stylistic issue, I really enjoyed reading/listening to this book. I had not realized the full scope of how influential the Beaufort family was, and enjoyed learning how they influenced several generations worth of politics, being major players in both the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses, as well being instrumental in supporting the eventual Henry IV’s seizure of the English crown from Richard II. The reader is advised to pay attention, though; titles and lands change hands often in this era, and the name by which the people are known change with equal rapidity. Several men are known as Somerset at different points, as is the case with Gloucester, York, Warwick, etc. At one point, Thomas Beaufort #1 goes from being referred to as Dorset, to as Exeter once he was elevated to the dukedom of Exeter. Also, there are multiple Henry, Thomas, John, and Joan Beauforts, just to keep the reader on their toes (although they are not the only family to pass their Christian names down to their progeny). It’s not a problem - just typical English medieval nomenclature - but it does keep the reader a little bit on their toes if they want to understand who is doing what. I actually found it interesting to see how the namesake compared to the man he was named after in his actions. And - if the namesake was not named after his own father - how he also compared to his father. It added another layer to an already interesting history, as certain traits as well as names seemed to pass from one generation of Beauforts to the next. The House of Beaufort does not shy away from exposing the messiness of its subjects and their times, and it is glorious.