Book Review: "The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England's Self-Made King" by Ian Mortimer

As you know, I have been reading books about every single king and queen of England since Edward the Confessor. I initially started with a book called Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood by Tom Licence, then moved on to Harold: the Last Anglo-Saxon King by Ian W Walker, which was about Harold Godwinson. I then went to William the Conqueror by David Bates, King Rufus: The Life and Murder of William II of England by Emma Mason (which I loved), and then Henry I: The Father of His People by Edmund King, Stephen: The Reign of Anarchy by Carl Watkins, Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior by Catherine Hanley - all the great ones that were Henry II: A Prince Among Princes by Richard Barber, Richard I: The Crusader King by Thomas Asbridge and John: An Evil King? By Nicholas Vincent. After this it went: Henry III: A Simple and God-Fearing King by Stephen Church, A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris, Edward II by Seymour Phillips (my personal favourite so far), Edward III: A Heroic Failure by Jonathan Sumption and finally there was Richard II: A Brittle Glory by Laura Ashe. Now, we are moving on to:

The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England’s Self-Made King by Ian Mortimer

I know of Henry IV from the Shakespeare plays mostly and so, in the introduction to the book to read that 'Shakespeare (had) a lot to answer for' both made me laugh and kind of made me think that I didn't really know as much about Henry IV as I thought I did. At the end of the day, Shakespeare was a propagandist.

The book itself starts off before Henry IV's reign whilst he is still about fourteen years' old and is called Henry of Lancaster. It talks about the rebellions against Richard II and establishes the state of England as it rises towards the reign of Henry IV. I have to say though this part is written well, it doesn't really have much to do with Richard II himself and I guess, though it does later, we don't really get a feel for England's rebellions under a narcissistic king. However, I'm not an expert on the subject of Henry IV's upbringing and so - I'm not taking any points away.

The book's continuing account of Henry of Lancaster's rivalry with his cousin, Richard II really sets the stage for one of the biggest and most frightening depositions in English History - the deposition of Richard II. This is because, unlike Henry IV, Richard had no children and therefore, no heir. The establishment of this is discussing how both boys were the favourite grandson's of Edward III, but Richard was the son of the eldest brother, Edward the Black Prince. Out of the two though, this book makes out that Henry IV would have been the better king. I don't think that is necessarily true and though the book never actually states it explicitly, it does try to infer it to the reader. I don't think it is true because most of what went wrong with Richard II's reign, Henry IV would have tried to put right. Even though he wasn't king for a long time, Henry IV's reign would not have had the fame it had if he had not initially deposed his cousin. Well, that is what I think anyway.

The deposition of Richard II and the travels of Henry IV are the strongest parts of the book as they have the most gripping pieces of information. Henry IV and his 'fears' are finally realised and he travels to many places in order to try and make up for the wrongs he feels he has done. It is seriously a powerful book and I feel like I have learnt so much more about Henry IV from it. I don't want to say too much since I don't want to put an image in your mind of how this book approaches the personality and character of Henry IV. But take it from me - as a person who thought they knew quite a bit about Henry IV from Shakespeare's plays, this book basically tells you that you're wrong and forces you to reconsider, opening your mind to so much more than just the plays.