It is a lot of fun to read about King John because he is so ridiculously and ubiquitously nasty – like watching a TV show with a character who is a real creep, bad can be very entertaining.

But to have lived with the man who was the poster child for the abolishment of primogeniture was a different thing altogether. Throughout his adulthood, John was a bully, vindictive, cruel and lying like a rug. Like many bullies, he abused people and then didn't understand when they turned on him. John had the pleasure of being a King who so alienated his aristocracy that they invited the King of another country to invade England. And it was the French King, an arch enemy!

A lot of research went into "King John". As Marc Morris tells us in his Introduction: "To get to the real King John, we have to look at the evidence from his own day – what was said about him by contemporary chroniclers, and what can be learned about him from official records. John's reign was a watershed moment in many important respects, including the amount of government archive.... We have far more letters, charters, memoranda – in short, far more information – about John than we do for any of his predecessors.... Once he is king, that is. One of the problems with telling John's story is that he was the youngest of five brothers, and as such did not grow up expecting to inherit very much at all.... For this reason, I decided to start my account a few years into his reign."

That would be 1203. John was 36 years old and had been King for 4 years. He has started the downward slide that will lose England all of its Angevin holdings, the western part of modern-day France, from Normandy down to Gascony. Morris includes 3 maps at the beginning the book. The first shows western France/Angevin, the 2nd England & Wales, and the 3rd Ireland. These maps were invaluable to me as I was reading.

He also includes an appendix with a full translation of the 1215 Magna Carta. There are also extensive Notes, Bibliography and an Index. A middle section has 16 photos. One of them is John's tomb in Worcester Cathedral. Its effigy is the closest thing to a portrait that we have of this famous, or infamous, King.

I am a history nerd and I enjoyed this book, 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It can be a little dense at times, because Morris includes a lot of detail. But it is a fascinating topic and he makes the period come alive. If you want to expand your reading to the whole Plantagenet dynasty, "A Stiffnecked and Fascinating Bunch", I can recommend The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England.

I received a free copy of "King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England".

Happy Reader

This book is good, really good. I had prior read Morris’s The Norman Conquest and have covered everything to King John from other books. I’m past halfway when writing this and I really like the book. I’ve learned a lot so far and in the background sections covering Henry I to Henry II, II’s sons, Richard, and John & Richard, there is nothing here that goes against what I’ve prior read. Morris knows his stuff.

My reason for why I felt compelled to review this book before finishing is I’m not a fan of how Morris handled the chronology. Book starts in 1204 covering John losing his holdings on the continent. Then the next chapter covers about 60-70 years prior to when John enters the world. Look this chapter is good as it’s an excellent summary, but then once done you’re jumping ahead to when John is in power in the early 13th century. Then back again. Then ahead again.

I can get that if he’d gone more chronological, we don’t get into the thick of who this book is about, 3-4 chapters in, but I’d take that over the back & forth through time.

But aside from that one grievance, this is a good book, but it’s why I can’t say say it’s a perfect 5/5. For the most is still a fairly easy and informative read. Just that chronology man. As one of the top reviews mentioned, you want read the first few even chapters first if you want to keep up with the chronology then do the odd. I won’t go back and do that as I’ve personally covered Henry I to Henry II to Richard extensively already, but I’m sure it’s a great idea for anyone interested in this book.

Anyway, looking forward to finishing in the coming days. My thoughts on John is he had potential, but was a bit of a twat & a goober. Looking forward to learning about Henry III next!

King John has some stiff competition for the title of worst king of England -- Stephen, Henry III, Edward II being some the more worthy claimants to the title, but John was in a class of his own and, to be fair, he had some of the worst luck during his reign.

With this biography Marc Morris continues his string of highly readable and mostly judicious books on the English monarchy. John's reign was intensely complicated and Morris has the rare virtue of being able to untangle the period. Morris takes the reader back and forth through time, taking John through the reigns of his father Henry II, and his brother Richard I, Morris thus lays the foundation for the narrative of John's time as king, explaining everything in a tour de force of clarity -- the author even makes the reform of the coinage interesting, no mean feat.

The author by and large is fair in his assessments of events and people -- he doesn't particularly care for William Marshall and I wish he would have put more emphasis on the fact that many of John's barons were a sorry lot. I also wish he had more of a point that John was extremely unlucky to have Philip II Augustus of France as his nemesis rather than a French king of the caliber of, say, Charles VII. Nevertheless, Morris' telling of the genesis and promulgation of Magna Carta is a model,of concision.

The main thing is that this book flows easily, it never drags, it is well researched and, as such, is useful for persons new to the subject and historians who want an excellent overview of the period. King John certainly was a bad king but his life reads like a novel in the hands of one of the most capable authors of popular history currently active. Highly recommended, along with his biographies of William I (The Conqueror) and Edward I.

What an amazing story I knew very little about. The book does a great job of objectively recounting John’s descent into tyranny and fairly assesses the historical evidence on all sides of his personal culpability vs larger circumstances. The best part is ending on the inspiring note of the grass roots development of Magna Carta and its charting the course for a more free society. I highly recommend reading the Magna Carta translation as a reminder of how people have stood up to tyranny for centuries.

Great read. Intriguing look at King John. Last living son of Henry II to become a Ing of England.

Well written and rich in detail.

In order to follow the history of King John and his family, especially for those who are learning, readers should begin to read this book on chapter 2 and read the even chapters 4, 6, and 8 in that sequence in order to follow the history of John's life and to avoid the annoying confusion of constant flashbacks. I began the book with Chapter 1 covering the year 1203 and afterward got so confused and irritated because Chapter 2 flashed back to years 1120-89, Chapter 3 flashed forward to 1204-05, Chapter 4 flashed back to 1189-94. How aggravating trying to make sense out of this narrative! The following list shows each chapter and time period:

Ch. 1 1203

Ch. 2 1120 - 1189

Ch. 3 1204 - 1205

Ch. 4 1189 - 1194

Ch. 5 1205 - 1206

Ch. 6 1194 - 1202

Ch. 7 1207 - 1208

Ch. 8 1202 - 1203 (right back to the beginning of the book!)

Ch. 9 1208 - 1210

Ch. 10 and the remaining chapters are in chronological order. Whew!

I can't imagine one wanting to read and learn history with chapters flashing forward and backwards! It's just too darned confusing. I started over after chapter 3 and began reading this book beginning with Chapter 2 followed by the order listed above. It flows and makes more sense that way.

A review on the back cover from History Today states: "A lively overview which eschews a linear narrative IN FAVOR OF FLASHBACKS [emphasis mine] to John's earlier life..." No kidding!

This book has 311 pages of actual text followed by Notes, Bibliography, and Index pages. A word of caution about the price, too: $54.95 is outrageous in my opinion.

Having read books on Richard the Lionheart and William Marshal, John's reputation and history was not well remarked upon. So I thought it would be interesting to read a more detailed history of his reign. In that regard I found this book very interesting in it's discussion of King John's constant battles with King Philip of France, Pope Innocent, the Baron's of England and the lands in modern day France. I did not get the impression his military skills or campaigns were as bad as generally thought, or at least he was able to take advantage of favorable conditions a number of times, even if he lost those gains in short order, and at the end nearly lost England itself. Given John's tyranny and oppression of England's people, it is easy to see where the stories of Robin Hood come from. The author does mix up the chronology of the book. It does not take away from the book, although I am not sure it serves the reader any more than following John's reign in chronological order.

While I try to be understanding of some of the complaints about the layout of the first 2\3rds of the book, I liked the logic behind it and didn't find it hard to keep things straight. That said, the switching of time periods can be avoided for a straight narrative retelling quite easily.

The book is dense with information and leaves you with an interest in picking up the key primary sources to John's reign.

Would highly recommend to historians and students of liberty alike.

I've read all of Marc's books. This one wasn't available for Kindle on Amazon Canada for quite a while. Worth the wait.