How the monarchs of England and Scotland met their deaths has been a wonderful mixture of violence, infections, overindulgence and occasional regicide. In Mortal Monarchs, medical historian Dr Suzie Edge examines 1,000 years of royal deaths to uncover the plots, accusations, rivalries, and ever-present threat of poison that the kings and queens of old faced. From the "bloody" fascinating story behind Oliver Cromwell's demise and the subsequent treatment of his corpse and whether the arrow William II caught in the chest was an accident or murder, to Henry IV's remarkable skin condition and the red-hot poker up Edward II's rear end, Mortal Monarchs captivates, grosses-out, and informs. So it's very educational. And I loved the fact we get the context, of the reign in question in each case. I actually wanted MORE detail of their ruling years in many cases, but this information is available elsewhere of course. The point of the book is to look at how each died. An effective mix of medical information with stories from royal history we all think we know, but that we maybe haven’t thought about in this way before. Would a ‘surfeit of lampreys’ actually kill you? What actually happens when you are beheaded? Could your death be ‘adapted’ by historians to better reflect your life and reign? These are the questions Suzie Edge explores.

Mortal Monarchs By Suzie Edge | Used | 9781472294227 - Wob Mortal Monarchs By Suzie Edge | Used | 9781472294227 - Wob

In each new weekly episode, Charlie and his friendly experts....(ie REAL historians)...learn all about one of our Kings or Queens and ask searching questions like: The Monarchy is a hot topic. Willy Willy Harry Stee from Charlie Higson may be your royal podcast of choice, but David Mitchell wants you to buy his book, which takes the story of the English Monarchy up Elizabeth 1st. From the "bloody" fascinating story behind Oliver Cromwell's demise and the subsequent treatment of his corpse and whether the arrow William II caught in the chest was an accident or murder, to Henry IV's remarkable skin condition and the red-hot poker up Edward II's rear end, Mortal Monarchs captivates, grosses-out and informs.Suzie Edge trained as a molecular cell biologist before moving to clinical medicine, to spend more time talking to people, rather than just bugs in test tubes. She went on to work as a junior doctor in a variety of medical specialties including infectious diseases, haematology, and trauma and orthopaedic surgery. She recently completed an MLitt in Modern History to feed her fascination for the history of the human body and the history of medicine. Henry VIII's only legitimate son is crowned King at 9 years old and as Charlie Higson discovers, his should have been the perfect reign, but it will come as no surprise to find out that things didn't go according to plan. The RRP is the suggested or Recommended Retail Price of a product, set by the publisher or manufacturer.

Mortal Monarchs : Suzie Edge (author), : 9781472294227 Mortal Monarchs : Suzie Edge (author), : 9781472294227

I should probably give a word of warning - if you have a weak stomach or are particularly sensitive to your mortality, this probably isn't the book for you. It does, however, provide a fascinating insight into death mechanisms through the centuries. Published mere days before the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the book is, of course, already requiring an update, but c'est la vie. Or c'est la mort, as the case may be. And interestingly, I took from this the point that the reported death of each is what the chroniclers WANTED us to think about both the deaths and the lives of the people who ruled us. Those who weren't liked were, coincidentally, historically remembered for grisly or morally 'just' deaths: Helping Charlie is this episodes proper historian, Stephen Alford who wrote about Edward for Penguin Books 'Monarch' series as well as authoring his highly acclaimed book 'The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth'The pathology side of this book is very strong. Piecing together all the clues about how how a king who lived centuries ago died made the book compulsively readable. There's some great detective work in here and I learnt a lot. We take the "George III had porphyria" theory for granted nowadays, but Dr Edge makes some really good points challenging it. So you've done it. You're the King......or the Queen.....you are the supreme ruler.....the big cheese......so surely you're not likely to die like those normal people are you?

‎Mortal Monarchs on Apple Books

From the bloody fascinating story behind Oliver Cromwell's demise and the subsequent treatment of his corpse and whether the arrow William II caught in the chest was an accident or murder, to Henry IV's remarkable skin condition and the red-hot poker up Edward II's rear end, Mortal Monarchs captivates, grosses-out and informs.Assisting him on this tumultuous voyage is the husband and wife historical tag-team of Julia Fox & John Guy, authors of Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage that Shook Europe.