Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens

 So, this wasn???t a bad overview of the concept of monarchy as it applies to the UK, which, arguably, has the most famous and most popular monarchy in the world at the moment. Mitchell digs into how UK monarchy got set up in the first place, and where its roots actually lie: not in anything so grand as the legend of King Arthur or in the divine right of kings, but just people trying to cobble together a (relatively) sensible government out of anarchy. He argues that this might apply to monarchy in general, as a system, and therefore any crowned heads of state do not really deserve the immense respect they are granted in the present day. He aims this at the current UK royal family, but I can see this extending to other current monarchies elsewhere, and not just in Europe.
One thing that might not sit right with readers is the author???s politics. He considers himself left-of-center, but there are moments when his stance will either chafe at the reader, or enrage entirely. I also suspect some readers might think he???s too cynical in parts, while others might argue he???s not being cynical enough. I personally found his stances mostly tolerable, though there were moments when they made me a mite twitchy.
Overall, this wasn???t a bad read; the author???s done his research, and he lays out the history of the early UK monarchy in a way that I found entertaining and interesting enough to get through. However, he???s also very clear about his politics, so YMMV on whether or not you can tolerate his writing.