Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths

Suzie Edge

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'A brilliant, funny and thought-provoking book' - Jonn Elledge

'Compelling, provocative, and utterly brilliant' - Dr Estelle Paranque

THIS PAPERBACK FEATURES ADDITIONAL MATERIAL ON HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

How the monarchs of England and Scotland met their deaths has been a wonderful mixture of violence, infections, overindulgence and occasional regicide. In Mortal Monarchs, medical historian Dr Suzie Edge examines 1,000 years of royal deaths to uncover the plots, accusations, rivalries, and ever-present threat of poison that the kings and queens of old faced.

From the "bloody" fascinating story behind Oliver Cromwell's demise and the subsequent treatment of his corpse and whether the arrow William II caught in the chest was an accident or murder, to Henry IV's remarkable skin condition and the red-hot poker up Edward II's rear end, Mortal Monarchs captivates, grosses-out and informs.

In school many of us learned the dates they died and who followed them, but sadly never heard the varied - and oft-gruesome - way our monarchs met their maker. Featuring original medical research, this history forms a rich record not just of how these people died, but how we thought about and treated the human body, in life and in death.

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Praise for Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths

  • A brilliant, funny and thought-provoking book - Jonn ElledgeCompelling, provocative, and utterly brilliant - Dr Estelle Paranque

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Suzie Edge

Suzie Edge

Suzie Edge trained as a biologist before becoming a medical doctor to spend more time talking to people, rather than just bugs in test tubes. She's worked as a doctor in infectious diseases, haematology, and trauma and orthopaedic surgery. She has also completed a MLitt in Modern History to feed her fascination for the history of the human body and medicine.

She loves discovering the real historical stories of how we have treated our human bodies in life and in death. She has over 10.3 million likes and 500,000 followers on TikTok, who love tuning into her stories of gruesome and fascinating medical history.

She has been nominated for BookTok Author of the Year 2023.

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