Renowned historian Tracy Borman takes up the well trodden path of tracing the last 1,000 years of English and British Royal families and presenting her reader with a succinct and well presented narrative of their lives and effect on the country they ruled over. 

As with all books of this type, it was only ever going to provide a general overview of each monarch and their rule. However, in this case I found that the author kept a very tight rein on her subject; in a lot of cases, the chapters focus solely on the ruler - things like the monarch's family members only get a very brief mention, and/or the wider events of the time period are excluded altogether. While this is certainly a different approach to the exercise and clearly shows the author's discipline, it does feel like the reader is missing out on a lot of context.

It's definitely a worthy read if you're looking for a 'jumping on' point for your studies or burgeoning interest in the royals; it compares vary favourably with similar books I've read. There are others that perhaps give a bit more background to place you more squarely in time, which may steer you better towards other reading material, but this will give you more of a feel of the person who wears the crown. Of course, if you're already a royal history fan then there's not going to be a huge amount of surprise in store, but that slight shift in perspective does allow you to imagine the history you know a bit differently.

To me, this style also clearly flags up the time periods in which the author feels most comfortable. As you would expect, the entries for each monarch vary in length to reflect the amount of time they sat on the throne. But, certain entries (particularly the Tudor period) seem to be far more detailed and well rounded, owing to the author's expertise in this area and the glut of sources available. Earlier Kings, such as the Normans and early Plantagenets, have far less insight. 

I believe the paperback version was published only a very short while before the passing of Elizabeth II, which is a shame. Clearly I'm not expecting Borman to be a fortune teller, but because of the specific circumstances and with the benefit of hindsight, it now has a slightly 'unfinished' feel to it as Elizabeth's chapter is only just short of covering her whole reign, and is probably the most detailed chapter of them all. Hopefully the author will take time to write an afterword or addendum for future editions to bring that chapter to a proper conclusion.