num_pages: 512
description: The Civil War and the execution of a king still stand out as momentous episodes in English history, and the life and death of King Charles I will always remain a story worth the telling. It is a story capable of many interpretations: was he, for example, the saint and martyr that his friends acclaimed, or the traitor and tyrant whom his enemies indicated, or simply an ordinary men whom chance had placed in the path of momentous change. There are, perhaps, more questions to be asked, and answered, about this grandson of Mary, Queen of Scots, than about any other English monarch.Charles's heritage, upbringing and personality, and his relationship with his friends, his advisers, and his favourites, all took place against, and were shaped by, a background of social and political upheaval that gradually enveloped him and his whole family. Pauline Gregg's excellent biography, drawing heavily on original documents, letters and speeches, tells the many-sided story of Charles I with skill and sympathy. 'He serves this king best who tells his life most faithfully,' wrote one of Charles's earliest biographers, a sentiment that is realised splendidly in Pauline Gregg's accomplished new book.
language: English
title: King Charles I
titlecomplete: King Charles I
characters: Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland
genres: History, Biography, British Literature
ratings_count: 18
publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson