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Mortal Monarchs

1,000 Years of Royal Deaths

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Mortal Monarchs

By: Suzie Edge
Narrated by: Suzie Edge
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About this listen

A humorous deep-dive into the varied—and oft-gruesome—deaths of the king and queens of England and Scotland.

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.

In school, many of us learned the dates they died and who followed them, but sadly never heard the varied—and oft-gruesome—way our monarchs met their maker. Featuring original medical research, this history forms a rich record not just of how these people died, but how we thought about and treated the human body, in life and in death.

©2022 Suzie Edge (P)2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Death & Dying Historical Politics & Activism Royalty Sociology Witty England
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Loved this book and Suzie’s narration. Easy to listen to and a little bit of learning history as well. Highly recommend.

Easy Listening

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Thoroughly enjoyed the medical take on history. Very informative and easy listening. Hope there will be more along these lines. Thankyou to the author

A must read

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A great listen, Suzie not only writes entertaining recounts of historical events, but she narrates fabulously too

Fantastic!

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I really enjoyed this book by Dr Suzie Edge.It was very informative and I was so impressed the information provided..

Absolutely loved this book

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And easy to listen to. I really liked the detail of what would have been going on in the body at the time. A shame there weren’t more Queens included.

Entertaining

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Really interesting. Suzie Edge is a wonderful story teller and I hope she writes another book soon.

I really enjoyed this

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Loved every minute!! Please narrate more titles!
So informative and soothing to listen to. Highly recommend

Wonderful

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This book was so gripping. Each chapter tells the death of a past monarch. It gives the story of their death, accounts of what symptoms they had from the history books and then the actual medical breakdown of what would have happened, plus the aftermath. I’m not good at doing it justice but it was an enthralling listen, that any lover of the morbid will enjoy.

Loved it!

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The book is exceptionally well written and Suzie is both entertaining and informative. It was released by prior to the death of Elizabeth II so obviously ends with George VI.

Highly recommend

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For someone who is not very good with blood and guts, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Exceptional well written with the right amount of humour to keep the listener engaged, It is also very well narrated by the author.

Just delightful.

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