Alison Weir

A portrait of Queen Isabella describes her marriage to Edward II, the king's homosexual affairs, her flight back to France, and her alliance with her husband's arch-enemy, Roger Mortimer, with whom she launched a revolution.

Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England

Queen Isabella

Jeni Enjaian

The narrator (British woman) was a breath of fresh air after the previous audiobook I listened to. Other than that, she was a fairly unremarkable narrator, not too good, not too bad. 
I have to admit that I know more about the Scottish side of this time period. At first, I had no idea which Isabella was the subject of the biography. (The historian in me cringes to admit that.) Once, I figured it out I was so glad that I had chosen this book to listen to. After reading the book and several reviews of it, I will definitely be checking out more books on the subject to auger a broader and therefore, less biased rendition of this history.
Weir writes fairly captivating popular history and at times seems to intersperse that with primary document discussion After reading the whole book it is clear that Weir discusses only the primary evidence that interests her. The fact that she, with almost no discussion, accepts the minority view that Edward II did not die in captivity but instead escaped and lived to be an old man in a monastery.
Another thing that bothered me is Weir's tendency to read a whole lot into sparse primary evidence. She often made statements concerning Isabella's mental state or emotions based on one letter. Sometimes she read into what wasn't mentioned to make her statements. 
This is a decent book but it should not be read as the "gospel truth."

Queen Isabella Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England

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