The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown by Nathen Amin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book, switching back and forth between kindle edition and the audiobook, depending on which edition was more convenient to me at the time. The reader was easy to listen to, the author enjoyable to read, and the family discussed very interesting. My main issue was that when the author quoted contemporary sources, he kept their original spelling of words. While I appreciated the authenticity, it made understanding those sections much harder when reading the kindle vs listening to the audiobook. While I usually could figure out the gist of what the sources were saying, it would have been nice if the author had provided a translation underneath as I have seen other authors do (granted, for early medieval English history rather than late medieval); even adding a translation in the footnotes would have been appreciated. Other than that minor stylistic issue, I really enjoyed reading/listening to this book. I had not realized the full scope of how influential the Beaufort family was, and enjoyed learning how they influenced several generations worth of politics, being major players in both the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses, as well being instrumental in supporting the eventual Henry IV’s seizure of the English crown from Richard II. The reader is advised to pay attention, though; titles and lands change hands often in this era, and the name by which the people are known change with equal rapidity. Several men are known as Somerset at different points, as is the case with Gloucester, York, Warwick, etc. At one point, Thomas Beaufort #1 goes from being referred to as Dorset, to as Exeter once he was elevated to the dukedom of Exeter. Also, there are multiple Henry, Thomas, John, and Joan Beauforts, just to keep the reader on their toes (although they are not the only family to pass their Christian names down to their progeny). It’s not a problem – just typical English medieval nomenclature – but it does keep the reader a little bit on their toes if they want to understand who is doing what. I actually found it interesting to see how the namesake compared to the man he was named after in his actions. And – if the namesake was not named after his own father – how he also compared to his father. It added another layer to an already interesting history, as certain traits as well as names seemed to pass from one generation of Beauforts to the next. The House of Beaufort does not shy away from exposing the messiness of its subjects and their times, and it is glorious.
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Chronically Rambling 