This compelling new biography provides the most authoritative picture yet of King Stephen, whose reign (1135-1154), with its "nineteen long winters" of civil war, made his name synonymous with failed leadership. After years of work on the sources, Edmund King shows with rare clarity the strengths and weaknesses of the monarch.
Keeping Stephen at the forefront of his account, the author also chronicles the activities of key family members and associates whose loyal support sustained Stephen's kingship. In 1135 the popular Stephen was elected king against the claims of the empress Matilda and her sons. But by 1153, Stephen had lost control over Normandy and other important regions, England had lost prestige, and the weakened king was forced to cede his family's right to succession. A rich narrative covering the drama of a tumultuous reign, this book focuses well-deserved attention on a king who lost control of his destiny.
About the Author
Edmund King is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Sheffield, having joined the department in 1966 and holding a chair since 1989. He has held visiting fellowships at the Huntington Library, USA (where he was a Fulbright Scholar), and at All Souls College, Oxford, and has taught also at the universities of Connecticut and Michigan in the USA. He has published widely in the field of Medieval British History, including authoring the illustrated survey "Medieval England", and editing "The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign", which is one of the most highly regarded books in the field.
Reviews
"On the face of it the civil war in Stephen's reign was a simple war for the succession. Historians have long wondered, however, whether there might have been other, deeper issues involved... Edmund 'King's' discussion of these issues is the fullest and most detailed to date, offered through the medium of a compelling biography of the king" – Nigel Saul, History Today
"Edmund King's discussion of these issues is the fullest and most detailed to date, offered through the medium of a compelling biography of the king" – Nigel Saul, History Today
"King is an expert guide, with a forensic eye for detail and a sharp-witted way with an explanation for a 21st-century readership" – Helen Castor, Times Higher Education
"King's strength has always been in the close reading of the texts he uses. He deploys his knowledge of the contemporary authors to great effect, time and again making arresting observations about their individual perspectives and links to events, which adds to the freshness and liveliness of his treatment" – David Crouch, Reviews in History
"Edmund King has produced a superb account of the reign" – D. A Carpenter, Times Literary Supplement
"This new monograph on King Stephen makes a formidable addition to the Yale English Monarchs series, and to medieval studies more generally" – Medium Aevum, 80:2
