Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty

Warrior, empire-builder, and founder of the dynasty, Henry II transforms England from a war zone into a superpower. But murder and betrayal by his own family puts in jeopardy everything he has achieved. When the friend he made head of the church also begins to challenge his actions, the king's uncontrollable temper risks disaster for the whole realm.

To Henry III, Simon de Montfort once seemed to be the savior of his kingdom, but enmity between the two men now spirals the country towards civil war. Key to this contest are the barons, who wish to exact from Henry new rules for his kingdom that are even more restrictive than the Magna Carta, which they had forced his father to sign

Edward II's shortsighted obsessions lead to a life filled will political violence, bloodlust, and revenge— and, according to legend, to an infamously horrific death. At first his queen, Isabella of France, is a loyal young wife. What turns her into the "she-wolf" that history branded her, ready to take up arms against the king?

The story of the Plantagenets reaches its catastrophic climax under the most vicious of them all, the boy-king Richard II. A hero after he crushes the Peasants' Revolt, the 14-year-old ruler launches a reign of terror that threatens to bring down the whole dynasty. For Richard, the greatest danger comes in the form of his cousin and childhood playmate, Henry Bolingbroke.