{"title":"Stephen Church","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the thrilling historical fiction of Stephen Church. Explore tales of courage, conflict, and compelling characters. Perfect for readers seeking gripping adventures rooted in rich historical detail. Browse now!\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"king-john-book-stephen-church-9780465092994","title":"King John","description":"King John (1166-1216) has long been seen as the epitome of bad kings. The son of the most charismatic couple of the middle ages, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and younger brother of the heroic crusader king, Richard the Lionheart, John lived much of his life in the shadow of his family. When in 1199 he became ruler of his family's lands in England and France, John proved unequal to the task of keeping them together. Early in his reign he lost much of his continental possessions, and over the next decade would come perilously close to losing his English kingdom, too.  In King John, medieval historian Stephen Church argues that John's reign, for all its failings, would prove to be a crucial turning point in English history. Though he was a masterful political manipulator, John's traditional ideas of unchecked sovereign power were becoming increasingly unpopular among his subjects, resulting in frequent confrontations. Nor was he willing to tolerate any challenges to his authority. For six long years, John and the pope struggled over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, a clash that led to the king's excommunication. As king of England, John taxed his people heavily to fund his futile attempt to reconquer the lands lost to the king of France. The cost to his people of this failure was great, but it was greater still for John. In 1215, his subjects rose in rebellion against their king and forced upon him a new constitution by which he was to rule. The principles underlying this constitution--enshrined in the terms of Magna Carta--would go on to shape democratic constitutions across the globe, including our own.  In this authoritative biography, Church describes how it was that a king famous for his misrule gave rise to Magna Carta, the blueprint for good governance.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49529317359889,"sku":"GOR010670919","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49553980195089,"sku":"GOR012431927","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50420449411345,"sku":"CIN0465092993VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51423383060753,"sku":"CIN0465092993G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0465092993.jpg?v=1750782575"},{"product_id":"king-john-book-stephen-church-9780230772458","title":"King John","description":"No English king has suffered a worse press than King John: but how to disentangle legend and reality?  The youngest of the five sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the empire builders of the Angevin dynasty, John had small hope of securing any significant inheritance.  Then, in 1199, on the death of his older brother Richard, John took possession of the vast Angevin lands in England and on the continent. But by his death in 1216, he had lost almost all that he inherited, and had come perilously close to losing his English kingdom, too.     Drawing on thousands of contemporary sources, Stephen Church tells John's story - from boyhood and the succession crises of his early adulthood, to accession, rebellion and civil war.  In doing so, he reveals exactly why John's reign went so disastrously wrong and how John's failure led to the great cornerstone of Britain's constitution: Magna Carta.   Vivid and authoritative, King John: England, Magna Carta and the Making of a Tyrant is history at its visceral best.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49531233173777,"sku":"GOR006595356","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50713000542481,"sku":"GOR007905912","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51232071057681,"sku":"GOR007403181","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0230772455.jpg?v=1750780063"},{"product_id":"king-john-book-stephen-church-9781447241959","title":"King John","description":"No English king has suffered a worse press than King John: Bad King John, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood, Magna Carta - but how to disentangle myth and truth?  John was the youngest of the five sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who, on the death of his brother Richard the Lionheart in 1199, took possession of a vast - and vastly wealthy - inheritance. But by his death in 1215, he had squandered it all, and come close to losing his English kingdom, too. Stephen Church vividly recounts exactly how John contrived to lose so much, so quickly and in doing so, tells the story of Magna Carta, which, eight hundred years later, is still one of the cornerstones of Western democracy.  Vivid and authoritative, King John: England, Magna Carta and the Making of a Tyrant is history at its visceral best.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49565238624529,"sku":"CIN1447241959G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49656824594705,"sku":"GOR008416615","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49713854906641,"sku":"GOR007355692","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50273639006481,"sku":"GOR008344130","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50283859280145,"sku":"GOR010398159","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51461458493713,"sku":"CIN1447241959VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1447241959.jpg?v=1751272602"},{"product_id":"henry-iii-penguin-monarchs-book-stephen-church-9780241380437","title":"Henry III (Penguin Monarchs)","description":"'Most contemporaries would have argued that it was a king's job to  put in peril his soul for the good of his Church and of his people. But  Henry was too determined to live a life of a saint'  Henry  III, the son of King John, was catapulted onto the throne aged just nine  and reigned for fifty-six years, during which time his self-conscious  piety often put him at odds with those around him. Yet as this sparkling  account makes clear, he deserves to be better known: for the birth of  Parliament, the building of Westminster Abbey, and the development of a  kingdom that still recognizably exists today.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49728481755409,"sku":"NGR9780241380437","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49861707399441,"sku":"GOR010576113","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50827561304337,"sku":"CIN024138043XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50913498628369,"sku":"GOR014119026","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51463249723665,"sku":"GOR013164456","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/024138043X.jpg?v=1751324044"},{"product_id":"henry-iii-penguin-monarchs-book-stephen-church-9780141977997","title":"Henry III (Penguin Monarchs)","description":"Henry III was a medieval king whose long reign continues to have a profound impact on us today.  He was on the throne for 56 years and during this time England was transformed from being the private play-thing of a French speaking dynasty into a medieval state in which the king answered for his actions to an English parliament, which emerged during Henry's lifetime.    Despite Henry's central importance for the birth of parliament and the development of a state recognisably modern in many of its institutions, it is Henry's most vociferous opponent, Simon de Montfort, who is in many ways more famous than the monarch himself.    Henry is principally known today as the driving force behind the building of Westminster Abbey, but he deserves to be better understood for many reasons - as Stephen Church's sparkling account makes clear.  Part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers in a highly collectible format","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50045695033617,"sku":"GOR009329277","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52109178732817,"sku":"GOR009489809","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53026843001105,"sku":"CIN014197799XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53448153268497,"sku":"GOR008837916","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B076DYGRY9.jpg?v=1751356030"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-stephen-church.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}