Monarchy With David Starkey
by David Hutt, Mary Cranitch
List Price:
Our Price: $7.94
You Save: $32.05 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: David Starkey, Gerard Hayling, Tony CottrellDirector: David Hutt, Mary Cranitch
Brand: Acorn
Cinematographer: Chris Openshaw
Cinematographer: Dewald Aukema
Cinematographer: Douglas Hartington
Cinematographer: Jeremy Humphries
Producer: Mary Cranitch
Editor: Jane Harris
Editor: John Everett
Editor: Sue Outlaw
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 317 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Reviews of Monarchy With David Starkey
DVD Review: An elegant CliffsNotes version of Britain's kings and queens. Don't blink or you'll miss one
Summary: 3 Stars
Think of a full-color CliffsNotes combined with one of those Monty Python spoofs of a BBC interviewer and you have a slightly unfair idea of Monarchy. In six episodes of less than an hour each Dr. David Starkey whips us along in a survey of England's...well, Britain's...no, make that the United Kingdom's...queens and kings. Sir David, as he is known in punctilious society, has given us an elegantly written and presented quick tour, sumptuously mounted. There are beautiful location shots of castles and palaces along with actors richly dressed to the purpose looking at us while Starkey tells us what they were plotting. The one great value of the series, to my mind, is the theme he gives his survey, and that is the continuing struggle between the sovereigns, on the one hand, to be supreme, and the barons, followed by the merchant class, on the other, to maintain a tight hold on the power of the purse. That struggle in one form or another gave us the Magna Carta, the grudging acceptance of shared rule along with kingly restraint, the concept of the rule of law, and the rise of the common man, even if, as in the House of Commons, the common man and woman wasn't represented all that well by the landed and mercantile classes who filled the Commons' seats. No matter how you look at it, England is a remarkable story for which the civilized world, which often includes the United States, should be grateful.
But don't expect more from Monarchy than a barely scratched surface. In my view, Starkey did a reasonably fine though fast job of the tumultuous period leading up to Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest, the characters and issues of two of the Tudors, Henry VII and Henry VIII, and the issues that led to Cromwell. Everything else for me was a blur. British history is so rich and, because so much of the history of the United States directly draws from it, so accessible to most of us, that I have mixed feelings about Monarchy. For grandparents, it would make a great present for a precocious middle school grandchild. For those reasonably familiar with British history, it simply condenses too much. Starkey uses his theme to effectively frame what he gives us, but what he gives is so little and so without nuance that, for me, it quickly became something to watch while glancing through the newspapers. Starkey doesn't help things by his manner of presentation. He is deadly serious and absolutely without doubt, humor or skepticism. I'd love to see Eric Idle or Terry Jones interview him. With Starkey's reputation for rudeness, it would be quite a show.
This Monarchy comes in two DVD discs. Starkey starts with the waves of Viking and Anglo-Saxon invasions and leaves us when Charles II restores the monarchy after the death of Cromwell. Future programs that take us to modern times are being shown in Britain and will eventually be available on DVDs over here. If anyone can sort out the differences between the British Region 2 DVDs and this American version, have a go. I can't believe that the American version is as severely edited, or even edited at all, compared to the Region two set. Yet trying to compare what is on the Region one and two discs with episode titles and elapsed times is just about impossible.
The DVD picture and audio are immaculate. If you're interested in British history, especially a history that goes well beyond mere kings and queens, try Simon Schama's A History of Britain - The Complete Collection. It is a fascinating documentary beautifully presented. Be prepared...it runs 15 hours. Now that's a documentary.
Description of Monarchy With David Starkey
Eminent scholar and energetic storyteller Dr. David Starkey (The Six Wives of Henry VIII) serves as your guide through nearly 10 centuries of royal rule in England. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Restoration, Starkey vividly describes the human drama behind the throne, with all its intrigue, lust, treachery, and thirst for power. You visit the very stages upon which history played out?Westminster Abbey, Bosworth Field, the dreaded Tower of London, and more?and explore the true character of the men and women who wore the crown.In this rich tapestry, Starkey identifies a unifying thread. On one hand, England required authoritarian might to stand strong against external threats. On the other, it cherished its longstanding tradition of rule by consent of the governed. The dynamic tension between these two impulses enabled the monarchy to survive as the oldest-functioning political institution in Europe.
Monarchy with David Starkey attempts to present "the power and passion behind 1,000 years of the English crown," as proclaimed on the DVD case. Hosted by Dr. David Starkey, a veteran presenter of several documentaries on English royal history (including The Six Wives of Henry VIII from 2001), this documentary is a six-episode overview of the history of the English monarchy, the oldest-functioning political institution in Europe. Volume 1 covers the early kings from the dissolution of Roman power in Britain, through the middle ages and up to the establishment of the House of Tudor, ending with the ascension to the throne of Henry VIII. Volume 2 focuses on Henry?s legacy, the question of succession that lead to Elizabeth I becoming queen, and carries us up through Cromwell and the Civil War to the Restoration with the return to the throne of Charles II. Starkey is filmed on location throughout England, Scotland, and France describing the events at the spots where they actually happened, but not every location is given its full due (in some cases, Starkey is seen standing at what is obviously an important memorial, but then fails to describe exactly where that is or what exactly transpired there) and several segments leave important details out, probably in the interest of saving time; a thousand years is a lot of ground to cover in only 332 minutes. As a result, Monarchy is a fast-moving overview of a fascinating segment of history, and not a close-up look that would require more time than six episodes could cover. But it does do an excellent job of elucidating the stories and presenting what is a unique theme throughout British royal history: the need of every monarch to balance protection of their authority by force while securing the consent of their subjects to rule. Students and those looking for an easily-digestible version of English history will really enjoy it. Committed Anglophiles and those interested in a more detailed look at the people and places involved might want to use this as a starting point and move on to more detailed accounts from there. --Daniel Vancini
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of ScotsUni; Release date: 2007-09-18; DVD
Best price: $11.47
Price in other shops:
The Normans - The Complete Epic SagaKultur; Release date: 2008-11-18; DVD
Best price: $13.57
Price in other shops:
The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody CrownKoch International; Release date: 2011-07-12; DVD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
The Borgias: The First SeasonParamount; Release date: 2011-12-27; DVD
Best price: $20.93
Price in other shops:
Empires: Queen Victoria's EmpirePBS; Release date: 2006-05-23; DVD
Best price: $10.31
Price in other shops:
Nicholas and AlexandraSony; Release date: 1999-07-27; DVD
Best price: $12.92
Price in other shops:
National Geographic - The Madness of Henry the VIIIWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-08-15; DVD
Best price: $13.29
Price in other shops:
Simon Schama: A History of Britain (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2010-08-17; DVD
Best price: $42.59
Price in other shops:
Monarchy With David Starkey, Set 2Acorn; Release date: 2007-10-30; DVD
Best price: $25.82
Price in other shops:
Elizabeth: The Acclaimed Saga of England's Virgin QueenA and E Home Video; Release date: 2002-05-28; DVD
Best price: $12.11
Price in other shops: