John (Penguin Monarchs)

by Nicholas Vincent

Book 37 in the Penguin Monarchs series.

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Nicholas Vincent examines King John beyond the familiar image of a tyrant forced to seal Magna Carta. The biography follows his loss of Normandy, quarrels with the Church, exploitation of royal finance and increasingly coercive government.

Rebellion by the barons produced Magna Carta and a civil war that continued until John’s death. Vincent weighs the evidence for cruelty, administrative ability and political misjudgement, asking why a king who once possessed considerable resources became one of England’s most reviled rulers.