W. L. Warren (1929–1994)

Being surely the definitive account of the life and polity of Henry II. The book begins and ends with a chronological narrative, with a middle dominated by an account of church-state relations during his reign, inevitably concentrating on his conflict with Archbishop Thomas Becket, his one-time crony. Another major theme is his ambition of establishing his sons in their own positions in the government of his vassal states on the continent, and their fitful allegiance to him which ultimately called the whole endeavor into question. The author has a high opinion of Henry, but this is conjoined with a recognition of his limitations and faults. He specifically does a good job of setting out the Becket arguments and placing them in the context of papal policy of the day, which he sees as rather different. The book obviously was not written with recreational reading in mind, and the account of church-state relations in particular is laden with far too much detail on the canon law of the time to be easily gotten through. Otherwise I was consistently interested by the account, which is one of high drama, as world theater and cinema have recognized for at least a half-century.… (mais)

His greatest achievement, indeed, was not that he created a vast dominion, nor even that he held on to it and largely tamed it, but that he introduced to it the art of government.

Huge effort to capture the essence of a tireless soul whose struggled to standardize and thus modernize the English realm. Perhaps growing up during such instability forged his resolve. His famous mother Matilda escaping the clutches of King Stephen, a winter walk for posterity. Despite there being precious little that we can instantly identify as being English in the chauvinistic sense, Henry worked to anchor relations with the Scots, Welsh and Irish. reigned in the barons and addressed the church. Under Henry's tutelage, many steps were taken along the road to Common Law. His friends and family appeared as ambitious as he was, often with disastrous or at least minatory consequences. In fact he dropped dead after refusing to fight one of his sons Richard who had again chafed at reality and bared his sword. This is an exhaustive look at policy and posterity. There isn't an abundance of personality within.… (mais)

This is an excellent account of Henry II's life and times, the man himself and the empire he ruled, containing an amazing amount of information. It is a serious historical work which shines for the painstaking research and attention to detail that went into it. At the same time, it is an enjoyable read with an engaging narrative. Maps and photos, as well as a glossary and 30 pages of bibliography complete the picture. The book was published in 1973, so it's not the latest, but I wished some historian today would take note and take a leaf out of this author's book - this is how it should be done!… (mais)