Crown and Country

A History of England through the Monarchy

By: David Starkey

Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith, Jim Norton

An exploration of the British monarchy from the retreat of the Romans up until the modern day.

The monarchy is one of Britain’s longest surviving institutions – as well as one of its most tumultuous and revered. In this masterful book, David Starkey looks at the monarchy as a whole, charting its history from Roman times, to the Wars of the Roses, the chaos of the Civil War, the fall of Charles I and Cromwell's emergence as Lord Protector – all the way up until the Victorian era when Britain’s monarchs came face-to-face with modernity.

This brilliant collection of biographies of Britain’s kings and queens provides an in-depth examination of what the British monarchy has meant, what it means now and what it will continue to mean.

Critic reviews

‘Excellent…the really crucial events in the history of the British Monarchy…are assessed with authority, wisdom and wit…This is Starkey at his fluent and entertaining best.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘This book…is vivid, lucid and engaging…his judgements delivered with quasi-Pontifical assurance are often acute…a very enjoyable book.’ Daily Telegraph

‘David Starkey tours England's monarchical horizon with gusto.’ Sunday Times

‘Starkey brings the past to vivid life.’ Daily Express

‘Combines compelling narrative and lucid analysis to guide us with a sure hand…Starkey’s book will undoubtedly make him and his publishers a tidy profit.’ Spectator

Needs Chapters - to good to stop!

I find most audiobooks (good and bad) to be great soporifics. This, however, is the opposite - and therefore needs chapters as a place to stop and come back to. The story is wonderfully relentless and extremely well read. Looking forward to the day when I have a good five hours free when I can just devote it to listening to this book (maybe it's time to really clean the apartment).