Obscure Book of the Day: Britain’s Kings and Queens

Published in 1998, this book, “Britain’s Kings and Queens” shows that the Pitkin Publishing Company has maintained the high standards of their publications. This guide is just as thoughtfully researched, written and illustrated as the Pitkin guides that we’ve looked at from the 1950s and 1960s.

This book presents a detailed history of Britain’s Kings and Queens from Alfred the Great (r. 871-899) to Elizabeth II (r. 1952-present). Almost eleven hundred years of royal history is concisely and accurately described and grandly illustrated with historic paintings and photos.

Written by Michael St. John Parker, the book manages to pack all of the pertinent information about each monarch into a series of brilliantly crafted biographies. Let’s take a look inside…