Customer Reviews

Henry IV

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I was very happy to have found a biography written solely on Henry IV, King of England. You read about him in history books but I wanted a more exhaustive look at just his life and reign. With Bevan's book we do get a close look at his life, although it may not be exhaustive. The biography taks a chronological approach through Henry's life, leaving a clear picture as to the timeline that events are happening. As well we are given a clear picture as to the type of man and king that Henry IV was. We are shown that Henry IV was stuck in the role as the usurper who now had to contend with Parliament and wasn't too effective of a policy maker. What Henry IV was good at was reacting to a crisis with enough speed and insite to quell any rebellious attempt at usurping his thrown.

All of this is paralleled by Bevan's description of Henry Bolingbroke as a man battling his own demons. Demons in the shape of his usurpation of the throne from Richard II; in the shape of the execution of the Archbishop of York. Demons that, in the end, seem to plague him enough to begin sapping the life out of him and making him seem much older than in fact he was when he passed away. Coupling this view of Henry as Man with the view of Henry as King leaves a complete picture of who Henry was and why he acted the way that he did.

There were times, though, when Bevan would insert a sentence or two that had nothing to do with the subject matter and would only make you stop and try to place it within the greater context of the biography. Or whole paragraphs would be thrown in that seemed completely out of place. Sometimes he would state something so matter of fact that it wasn't necessarily out of context but it was stilted and messed with the flow of the chapter and paragraph. Other than that, albeit a minor annoyance, I would have to say that this was a good biography to read of the Usurper King Henry IV. I would recommend.

4 stars.