Monarchy - Complete Series

MONARCHY provides excellent history of Britain as well as the Monarchy. Military history played a great part in both politics and the Monarchy--often one and the same. The 16 episodes (about 48 min. each) provide a chronological picture of kings, queens and other royalty from the Saxons (year 802) to Queen Victoria (1901).

Athena's "Monarchy" is to the student of British royal history, what "Playing Shakespeare" is to Shakespearean actors. It's a sophisticated, upper-level, educational experience, not unlike British Monarchy presented in a university study. The SUBTITLES help on many words--unusual, seldom used vocabulary such as "regicide" [killer of kings] and fratricidal" [killing of relatives]. Your mind will expand! I impatiently awaited the Monarchy role as it related to the USA history beginning with the 18th century. The final 2 episodes did not disappoint in this aspect.

This series has beautiful footage that shows off Great Britain's countryside as well as any travelogue. Many interiors of ancient buildings are included--primarily churches. Visuals come in the forms of live footage, reconstructions, dramatizations, computer imagery, maps, art productions, artifacts, archeological sites, aerial footage, and ancient manuscripts.

The narrator, Dr. David Starkey, is quite expressive in facial gestures, expressions, and his manner of speech. His speech comes in bursts of 1 to 5 syllables. He is a memorable personality, providing extensive history of the royal personal lives, politics, war, and enterprise. His manner and the visuals make this a compelling lecture series. Subtitles are available, but not needed for Starkey's accent.

"Monarchy" is a documentary, but oh so entertaining as well as educational. Bonus material includes a booklet with a valuable timeline to keep track of the episodes, and additional fun and interesting monarchy-related facts and trivia. The fifth disc has a bonus section in script containing bios of 5 20th century monarchs, up to the current Queen; a written bio on Dr. Starkey; and 9 photos with written facts about royal architectural structures.

Every HS and University history department's library needs a copy. Also, public libraries, and those of us who so enjoy the British TV dramas. This puts all royal history in perspective.

The Episodes as brought to us by David Starkey (A great starting point from which to explore more English/British history).

Series 1
1. A Nation State (From the Dark Ages & Alfred the Great to the creation of England.)
2. Ængla Land (The Anglo-Saxons, 1066 and all that!)
3. Conquest (The Normans arrive)
4. Dynasty (Episode Focuses on Henry II, Thomas Becket)
5. A United Kingdom (Edward I, Edward II & Edward III, grandson of Edward I.)
6. Death of a Dynasty (Follows the reigns made famous by Shakespeare)

Series 2
1. The Crown Imperial (1450s to the birth of the Tudors)
2. King and Emperor (The days of Henry VIII)
3. The Shadow of the King (Henry 8's children: Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I)
4. The Stuart Succession
5. Cromwell The King Killer

Series 3
1. The Return of the King (Birth of the world's first modern state)
2. The Glorious Revolution (1688/1689)
3. Rule Britannia (1688 + 25 years to being a world power)
4. Empire (1714+ the emergence of the Prime Minister & modern doings)
5. Survival (1789+ & the French Revolution)

Series 4
1. The Windsors (Queen Victoria to today)

History buffs who are addicted to dramatic reenactments will be gravely disappointed. This production is more of a scholarly university lecture, performed by Professor David Starkey, but without the Zzzz factor. Starkey talks with a heavy British accent while he looks into the camera and talks about whatever monarch he is covering. He stands by old court paintings or fading Old English documents, walks through old palaces, royal gardens or abandoned fortresses, all the while keeping the narrative flowing. You may get a dramatic eyebrow roll, or a empathetic lip pout for emphasis, but you're not going to be able to start day dreaming.

The viewer gets a modern version of where history took place as Starkey travels around England to show off historical places. The misty, lush English countryside is so beautiful... Actors may appear in the background in era clothing, but they do not speak. They are more like ghosts in the background.

This unique style works because the information is packed into precise sentences. Starkey doesn't talk in flowery prose, he talks like a professor should, with emphasis on all the facts. There is no conjecture; everything Starkey mentions is spoken without emotion or bias. It is all facts. And there are so many facts in this video!

There are five disks to this set. Each disk is around 140 minutes long. Anyone watching this production will be inundated with information. Pay attention as there is no time to fall asleep.

Lovers of English history will enjoy this production. No time is wasted with cheesy reenactments. Instead the viewer walks away with a head full of royal knowledge. Because you don't have to worry watching boring reenactments, I find this CD collection excellent to listen to on my Car CD player on my way to work.

As other reviewers have noted though, the narrative ends with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Which means this is not the complete saga of British monarchs. If the updated version is as good as this one, it will be worth the money.

To get a feel for this great video collection, google "david starkey monarchy" and you can see clips of this production on youtube.