The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330

This is an amazing story brilliantly told. Its got all the ingredients of a soap (gay lovers, affairs, estranged family, murder...) but is a true story. I loved reading this book. Only downside was when I had finished it!

Yay! (2/2 people found this helpful)

A real page turner- I couldnt put it down. Well done Ian Mortimer!
He makes Roger Mortimer more human and goes into incredible detail on his early life. I started reading this book thinking that R Mortimer was a traitor who deserved his death but now upon finishing it- have an enormous amount of sympathy.

Good but flawed... (15/24 people found this helpful)

This is a well-written and researched account of a period in English history that has been somewhat overlooked but I think that the author strains credulity when he moves off what is known from the documents and states speculation as fact.

His assumumption that the relationship between Isabella and Roger was a love affair rather than a political marriage of convenience seems both a jump too far and irrelevant (particularly as he specifically avoids speculation as to whether or not Edward himself was gay). More importantly, his thesis that Edward II didn't die in Berkeley Castle doesn't seem convincing (to me at least).

Bloody good read! (19/25 people found this helpful)

"The Greatest Traitor" gives new meaning to how to get a head! It also provides great insight into life in medieval England, with all the politics and intrigue of a gay king, Roger's escape from the Tower of London and his liasion with Queen Isabella, and the colorful method of doing in King Edward II. Ian Mortimer has taken an interesting man and era, and written a compelling book that is impossible to put down.

Thoroughly exciting and compelling reading. (29/33 people found this helpful)

Mortimer's account of the actions of his namesake is gripping, exciting and at the same time wince-inducing.

There is no doubt that England in the early 1300s was not a green and pleasant land to live in. The behaviour of the noble classes was anything but noble; self-interest was their driving force.

This book traces the story behind the overthrow of King Edward II because he had become a self-absorbed tyrant who flouted his cornation oath and the laws of the land. It is obviously hard to delve deeply into the minds of people who left little in the way of written records. A historian has to rely on tidbits and implications. Nonetheless, I found this book to be absorbing and exciting.

The pace is excellent, and luckily for the reader, there is a reasonable narrative to follow. In addition, the author has avoided the problem of peoples' names changing as they inherit titles, and so on. This latter aspect can make the reading of medieval history very trying.

Another reviewer has accused the author of revisionism. This is the sort of allegation that is always thrown against a proponent of a radical or alternative perspective.

There is NO doubt that the limited scope for free expression and constant pressure applied by the Church would have made the discussion of Edward's sexuality a taboo for many centuries. What the author has done is to look at the king and judge his behaviour, rather than his sexuality. Edward's habit of rewarding his favourites at the expense of others was his undoing, as much as his refysal to listen to wise counsel.

I would heartily recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in the history of England.

The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330

Ian Mortimer

Reader Reviews:

Excellent (0/0 people found this helpful)

Yay! (2/2 people found this helpful)

Good but flawed... (15/24 people found this helpful)

Bloody good read! (19/25 people found this helpful)

Thoroughly exciting and compelling reading. (29/33 people found this helpful)

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