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Henry IV  By  cover art

Henry IV

By: Ian Mortimer
Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
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Publisher's summary

The talented, confident, and intelligent son of John of Gaunt, Henry IV started his reign as a popular and charismatic king after he dethroned the tyrannical and wildly unpopular Richard II. But six years into his reign, Henry had survived eight assassination and overthrow attempts.

Having broken God's law of primogeniture by overthrowing the man many people saw as the chosen king, Henry IV left himself vulnerable to challenges from powerful enemies about the validity of his reign. Even so, Henry managed to establish the new Lancastrian dynasty and a new rule of law - in highly turbulent times.

In this book, noted historian Ian Mortimer, author of The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan London, explores the political and social forces that transformed Henry IV from his nation's savior to its scourge.

©2014 Ian Mortimer (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[Mortimer] has an instinctive sympathy for the men about whom he writes, a real understanding of the mentalities of late medieval England, and a vivid historical imagination which lends colour and excitement to his pages" ( Literary Review)

What listeners say about Henry IV

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Detailed and compelling

Couldn't stop listening to this extraordinary story of a lesser known king. Very nicely read.

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13 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars

I tried, I really did

Not to put too fine a point on it, but my primary focus is entertainment, not education. That being said I found this to be dry and the delivery to be dryer. To be fair, I don't know how the narrator could have livened this up. He delivered it with textbook pronunciation, and it sounded like a textbook. The whole first chapter completely lost me, I listen to about half of it and all it was, citations of other authors about the characters. As the second chapter motored on, we started to get into some historical characterizations and events. Again, more like a textbook than entertainment for me. I have no doubt this author has amazing knowledge on the subject, I just could not stick with this

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11 people found this helpful

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Total immersion history

Once again, Dr. Ian Mortimer delivers a powerful and instructive narrative historical account. Henry IV has been vilified throughout history, but Mortimer recounts his life in a most balanced way to show that particularly Shakespeare’s characterization is unfair. James Cameron Stewart gives careful and exceptional narration.

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6 people found this helpful

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Excellent but lacks epilogue

Very detailed and well-researched. My only complaint: it doesn’t include an epilogue of what happened after his death. Should be something about his children, especially Henry V, what happened to England in the years following his death, etc.

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3 people found this helpful

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Perfect 5 stars in all regards...almost

My only complaint is that every chapter opens with a quotation from Shakespeare. That is an annoying distraction in an otherwise excellent audiobook. In the book and Kindle versions I can painlessly skip over the Shakespeare nonsense. (The cover art of fanciful armor should be replaced with authentic field armor from the period.)

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The man emerges...

I love Ian Mortimer, so I'm probably a bit biased, but this is the most complete portrait of Henry IV I've ever read. Throws so much light on his reign, in terms of his motivations. Definitely NOT just another this-happened-when book. Highly recommend!

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Great book, interviewer not so much

The book was full of great information but, James Cameron Stewart kind of gets on my nerves.

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Amazing

This book reveals both history and culture in the time of Richard II and Henry IV. Ian Mortimer questions history and presents thought forming insights to the events of this time.

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  • 03-11-24

Unfortunately, the frequent breaks the narrator makes when reading. It was distracting.

The narration was too distracting and, at times, too much detail in story. Just finished to have it over.

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  • Overall
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You will never think of Henry IV the same way again.

I always thought the most interesting Henry IV was the French one (first Bourbon, changed religions the *opposite* way of the norm at the time, basically caused two kings to be murdered, himself and his predecessor) and the English one to be more of a transition figure between two very different eras. But turns out Bolingbroke was quite an admirable figure, one who challenged and changed the norms and paradigms of his time, and triumphed. It’s so curious and ironic, however, that what most greatly plagued the son and heir of John of Gaunt (one of the richest men in human history, when you adjust his wealth for inflation and other factors) was… an eternal lack of money.
I particularly enjoyed the investigative work, where Mortimer becomes a detective to analyze questions such as whether Henry had Richard II murdered, or why he decided to trace his claim to the throne back to Henry III instead of Edward III, why a sincerely pious and devotedly religious man would have a king murdered and a bishop executed, or when was it that he became so ill.
While the first two Henryses will remain as the most interesting ones, the IV one will most likely supplant his son the V, his fellow usurper the VII, or even the too-famous VIII in your estimation, after you finish this great biography.

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