John of Gaunt by Sydney Armitage-Smith
was received direct from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My review is 111 years late as this book was first released in 1904. I am not much of a historic reader of books such as this. What attracted me to this one is the publisher is generally rather thorough and secondly, and most important, is I had heard most every Caucasian American is related to the British Throne. My family tree is deeply embedded in the House of Plantagenet, who ruled England from 1154 – 1485. John of Gaunt, the 1st Duke of Lancaster, was King Edward 3’s fourth son. I will not go into details on John of Gaunts life here in this review but here are some highlights: As younger brother of the Black Prince, John of Gaunt was not destined to play an important role in the Plantagenet dynasty’s fortunes. Yet the Black Prince and Edward died before their time, and John found his influence increased with the accession of his young nephew, Richard II. Never enjoying military successes as his brother or father had, John found his form in the dynastic games governing Europe, even claiming kingship of Castile and Leon by marriage. If you are a House of Plantagenet heir, or a history buff, or know someone who is, please buy this book, it aged well and I did not get bored with old style writing.
4 Stars.
