Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II

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Falls between two stools - Rated
The title of the book is "Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II" and this is its weakness. Either it is supposed to be a biography of Isabella or its a book exporing the death of Edward II, but it fails on both counts. The author covers the death of Edward II less clearly and with less supporting ideas and evidence than Ian Mortimer's two books. Various aspects of Isabella's life are given insufficient attention (for example, her life after Edward III assumed the throne) for this to be a complete biography of Isabella. Finally, her direct involvement in Edward II's "death" is as a minor part rather than as a participant. There are probably better books on this period of history and the relevant people.

Badly written and full of errors - Rated
An extremely odd book, full of avoidable errors. Many of Doherty's mistakes should have been caught by the editor: for example, on one page he states that Isabella was born in 1296, but later says that she was 9 in 1303 and 23 in 1321. Worst of all, he correctly calls Gaveston's wife Margaret de Clare the first time he refers to her, but a mere 11 pages later inexplicably calls her 'Joan of Gloucester'. Incredibly sloppy work and unforgivable for a man who holds an Oxford doctorate on this subject.

Other errors: Doherty repeatedly refers to the notorious family as 'de Spencer' when it should be 'le Despenser'. St Louis was the grandfather of Philip IV, not the great-grandfather. The earl of Arundel was not the son-in-law of Hugh le Despenser. Mortimer had 8 daughters, not 3.

A lot of the phraseology is very awkward: we get the sentence "New favourites might emerge?" (that's the whole sentence) and a reference to Isabella's "months at Paris". Months AT Paris??

Doherty does not state clearly enough when he is giving historical fact and when he is merely stating his own opinion or interpretation - for example, it's a fact that Isabella was almost captured by the Scots in 1322, but only Doherty's opinion that Hugh le Despenser (NOT 'Hugh de Spencer') deliberately put her in danger. Doherty, however, states this as a fact.

He perpetuates myths that other historians have proved to be totally fictitious: that Isabella was in or around the Tower of London at the time Mortimer escaped (she wasn't) and that she chose Grey Friars as her final resting place because Mortimer was buried there (he wasn't).

Doherty portrays Isabella as a "fairy tale Princess" (yuck!!) but also as a powerful but frankly evil woman, who demanded her own husband's execution, thought of him as a "non-person" and had "murder in her heart" regarding him. He also drastically over-estimates her abilities and intelligence and doesn't bother to mention what a disaster her regency was.

All in all, a very poor effort by a man who could and should do a lot better.

Death & Dynastics in Medieval England - Rated
Queen Isabella is best known to history as the She-Wolf of France, while her husband, Edward II, is infamous for his homosexual leanings and the manner of his death - allegedly by a hot poker up the backside. Doherty takes a look at Isabella, Edward, and the events of his reign and puts forward an interesting and plausible theory.

Isabella and Edward are both presented by Doherty as real people and deserving of our sympathy. They had four children together, and the marriage initially seems to have worked well. The relationship began to deteriorate with the elevation of Hugh de Spencer as the King's Favourite. Isabella was sent to France on a diplomatic mission, where she contrived to be joined by her eldest son. She refused to return to England with de Spencer still in power, and her affair with the exiled Marcher Lord, Roger Mortimer became public. Isabella and Mortimer eventually invaded England, deposed Edward II in favour of their son Edward III, decimated the de Spenser family and set themselves up as Regents.

Doherty's analysis of the reasons for Isabella's actions are excellent. He presents the accepted story of Edward II's imprisonment and death, but also puts forward a convincing case for an escape having been affected. Overall a highly readable and interesting book.

Great history on Edward II...BUT... - Rated
The book is very accessible to the scholar and also the ordinary person with an interest in history, weaving the story of all events very clearly and in a flowing manner. All the participants in the main plots are easy to distinguish and don't need constant backturning of pages to keep up with the main events.

However the book's title is somewhat misleading. In all truth Isabella(the title lady) doesn't really appear in the book other than as a background figure ordering various people around, or moving from one residence to another.

The book is fascinating on the subject of the life of Edward II and his dubious death/burial/escape. So in all truth the book should just be titled "The Strange Death Of Edward II", as there really is very poor amounts of information on Isabella or for that matter on Roger Mortimer, the other leading player from the time. Considering the Queen spent most of her "exile" at Castle Rising in Norfolk, that place is only mentioned once...where a look at the accounts and daily life from there would have been fascinating, as well as looking into the not widely known possible legend of Isabella having a heart burial at the village church in Castle Rising.

Having just read a biographical book on Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine this book was a big disappointment in lacking so much information on another formidable Queen...ie:Isabella. If your interest is on the reign of Edward II then you'll love this book, if your interest is on delving into the life of Isabella then you'll be very disappointed.

Well written, but the characters never come to life - Rated
A perfectly good history of the period, events are easy to follow. There is nothing to complain about, but I couldn't give it the full five stars because while Edward II seemed real enough, Isabella seemed more like a cardboard cut out, and Roger Mortimer never made his presence felt. There just seemed to be something missing.