A woman walks into a library...

...and she sees this really cool chart on the history room door. She comes to the desk and asks if she can have a copy of it. You notice that it is stuck on the door pretty good, and that you might not get it off without tearing it. You have no idea where it came from other than the fact that Mike found it somewhere in the building one day and decided it would do more good hanging up where someone could see it than hidden away in the back room. The poster has no statement of responsibility, address, or copyright statement of any sort anywhere. You just say "Nope," Right? Fortunately, this true story ended happily. A little conversation can go a long way in a reference interview. After chatting for a moment or two, she revealed that she only thought it would be nice to have the chart because it provided some good information on a line in her husband's background. I suggested that in that case she might be interested in looking through The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. R 941.0099 MAM



There were lots of charts in that book that she could copy. It turned out to be exactly the kind of information she was looking for and more.



Every librarian should be familiar with it. It truly is, as its introduction claims, "the most complete record of the kings and queens of Britain ever compiled." Almost a thousand rulers are covered, covering not only England, Scotland and Wales, but also the earlier kingdoms that made up those areas in the early middle ages before they were conquered and consolidated. There are lists of rulers for Northern and Southern Powys in what is now Wales, in addition to Deheubarth, Gwynedd, Seisyllwg, Dyfed and Demetia. England grew out of Mercia, East Angliam, Essex, Kent, Wessex, Kernow (Cornwall), Dumnonia, and other small kingdoms. Scotland came out of Alba, Strathclyde, Caledonia, Fortriu, etc. And prior to the early middle ages the island was part of the Roman Empire for a few hundred years. Prior to that there were two dozen kingdoms on the island. All of the rulers of all of those kingdoms, some historical and some legendary or semi-legendary, are covered in this volume. And all of them are tied together in 57 genealogical charts. But that's not all. The legendary rulers in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (which we also own) are listed here as well, including the line of King Arthur. (Just who was King Arthur, anyway? Check this book for some in-depth speculation.) Also listed are the rulers of France, Brittany, Aquitaine, Anjou, Normandy, Dublin, Denmark, Norway, Hanover, and the High Kings of Ireland, all of whom had connections, genealogical and otherwise, with the British royal family. So dig in. If you ever get a similar question, you will now be aware of the perfect gateway to further information.