There was a time when schoolchildren all over the British Empire (later the Commonwealth) were required to learn and memorize the names --- sometimes the reigning dates as well --- of all the kings and queens of England. I recall my mother and great aunt rhyming them off to me as a child, just as easily as reciting the alphabet. One of my wedding gifts was a linen tea towel with all those names filling every corner of the fabric. After a few years, only the most important monarchs in bold print were still visible.

Prolific UK author and historian Tracy Borman’s latest royal tome, CROWN & SCEPTRE, brings back memories of just how devoted people in Canada and other formerly “pink countries” around the globe remain to this legacy of reigning British monarchs, long after their last vestiges of political power were extinguished by the rise of parliamentary democracy.

There has long been debate and speculation over who the first bona fide ruler of Britain really was, or even what actually constituted Britain itself as a geopolitical entity. If you start with the iconic William the Conqueror, who crossed the channel from Normandy in 1066, there have been 42 occupants of the throne during nearly a millennium of history.

"Borman has mastered the language and judgment of an authentic 'people’s historian' in giving CROWN & SCEPTRE more than enough substance and energy to satisfy a broad spectrum of keen royalty readers."

But William won a war with King Harold II, whose fatal wound at the hands of his foreign adversary is famously documented on the Bayeux Tapestry. And a cluster of semi-mythical rulers went before him with names like Alfred, Edward, Aethelstan, Edgar and Aethelred, all governing key regions of an island that was home to a surprising diversity of indigenous and migrant races.

In CROWN & SCEPTRE, Borman, who is currently a joint Chief Curator of Britain’s Historic Royal Palaces and author of a dozen previous histories and novels, lines up all these rulers in chronological order, giving each one --- from William of Normandy through HRH Queen Elizabeth II --- his or her own chapter.

This might not seem like the most original of ideas, but it’s a greater accomplishment than first meets the eye. Within 550 pages, Borman manages to recreate 43 vivid and remarkably detailed brief lives (including co-rulers) in a space that would not be enough to hold a definitive biography of just one among the more famous of them, notably Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Victoria, or, of course, the present Elizabeth II.

Additionally, Borman is precise about gathering them into their cultural, geographical or family groups: Normans, Plantagenets, Lancastrians-Yorkists, Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians and Windsors. Only then, through her concise but insightful introductions, do we learn that chronological ordering fits chronos (time) far more harmoniously than dynastic logic.

That’s because remarkably few of Britain’s kings and queens could claim to be British at all, and fewer still ruled territory that came anywhere near the landmass of the entire island. The original Angles and Saxons migrated from Germanic Europe, the Normans conquered from France and continued for centuries trying to rule (with varied success) territories spanning both sides of the Channel. A long dynasty of English monarchs were direct imports from pre-unified Germany. Ironically, the “King’s” or “Queen’s English” that many of us were laboriously taught in grade school was a foreign language to many who have sat on the throne.

Interspersed with the varying power and influence of each ruler, Borman tracks a gradual but steady increase in the power of the people, manifested through the evolution and refinement of parliamentary government that eventually whittled away some of the more despotic and arbitrary powers of Britain’s monarchy.

Yet it can be argued after reading CROWN & SCEPTRE that some of the “weak” kings and queens, militarily and politically, were among the most effective domestically and revered in the hearts of their subjects. Even the ne’er-do-wells (notably the early Georges) who spent lives of largesse, amour, madness and luxury managed to leave behind enough affection and respect to be considered “good” rulers on the whole, though they were barely figureheads.

Of course, the book ends on an unfinished note with its release on the eve of Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum anniversary earlier this month, marking 70 years on the throne. As the longest-reigning monarch in British history, her passing will leave a gulf of vast proportions for future generations. As a recent commentator put it, and as Borman alludes to in her thoughtful Epilogue, for the majority of the entire planet’s population Elizabeth II has been England’s queen all their lives --- which none of her precursors could claim with equal conviction.

Those who have made a long study of Britain’s monarchs and have read numerous biographies focused on a specific ruler or ruling dynasty may be somewhat skeptical about a single book covering more than a millennium of crowned individuals. But Borman has mastered the language and judgment of an authentic “people’s historian” in giving CROWN & SCEPTRE more than enough substance and energy to satisfy a broad spectrum of keen royalty readers. You don’t have to know all (or even a few) of these royal names to enjoy their brief but fascinating life stories.