Explore the wars, love affairs, religious crusades and family drama that animate English history in James Mackintosh's The History of England, From the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment, Volume I. Mackintosh was a Whig member of Parliament as well as a barrister, writer, historian and philosopher. His book begins at the dawn of the Common Era, with Romans and Celts in the British Isles. Although there had been people living in the land now known as England for hundreds of thousands of years, the end of Roman Rule in Britain generally marks the beginning of what we now think of as England. Mackintosh describes the entry of the Anglo-Saxons, and follows the story through to 1066, when William the Conqueror invaded England. The book covers Norman Rule including the ascensions of William's sons and the civil wars that followed.

Then England saw the rise of the House of Plantagenet. Mackintosh describes King Richard the Lionheart's rule as more of a Crusade than a reign. Religious developments which affected England are considered. For example, Mackintosh titles one chapter "Were the Crusades Just?" History judges Richard's brother John's reign far more harshly, since it was marked by the loss of Normandy and other disputed French territories. When the barons revolted against John, the result of these struggles was the Magna Carta, which limited the powers of the King.

Mackintosh dislikes King John's son Henry VIII, writing that he would not even be worth contemplating if it were not for the fact that he was forced to implement baronial and constitutional reforms. Mackintosh has kinder words for King Edward I, the Hammer of the Scots, who summoned the first of the official Parliaments, conquered Wales and began an English stranglehold on Scotland. Mackintosh defends Edward against accusations that he massacred 500 Welsh Bards. At the same time, writing as a historian of a country that very much includes Wales, Mackintosh understands why the Welsh may despised the English. This sympathetic balance by the author continues throughout the book.

One of the highlights of The History of England, From the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment, Volume I is the entertaining section about King Edward II. Edward II was widely recognized as a homosexual, and Mackintosh analyses the problems caused by Edward II's lover, Pierre Gaveston. He spends several pages describing Gaveston as a minion who would simply not go away despite the desperate maneuvers of the barons. During these struggles, Edward II was in the midst of the Scottish Wars of Independence, which did not go well for England. Edward was forced into a truce with Robert the Bruce, during which Scotland remained independent. Meanwhile Edward II's wife, Isabella, had an affair with Roger Mortimer of France. The soap opera continued when the two invaded England, eventually leading to the reign of Edward III.

Edward III's four eldest sons fought viciously for control of the throne and these disputes, known as the War of the Roses, are meticulously examined by Mackintosh. The same is true of the 100 Years War between England and France. The History of England, From the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment, Volume I concludes with the end of the 100 Years War and the "Execution of the Maiden," aka Joan of Arc.

The book focuses on the men and women who made modern England and the Popes and foreign kings who fought for and against them. If you enjoy reading about princes, kings, popes, and revolutionaries, then you will love The History of England, From the Earliest Times to the Final Establishment, Volume I.

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