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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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I loved the death of Kings and this is very similar with a little more medical info and some funny insides. I felt it lacked a little historical depth in places but a fun easy listen

Interesting and witty

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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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