*From Alfred's burning of the cakes to the coronation of King Charles III, here is the definitive account of an institution that has shaped the Britain of today.*

In this brief but fact-filled book Stephen Bates explores the long, often troubled history of the British monarchy, telling the stories behind the symbols and bringing to life the personalities behind the legends. And as the curtain rises on the reign of King Charles III, he asks what might lie ahead for the world’s best-known royal family.

The Shortest History of the Crown

A classic 1920s murder mystery.

It’s straight out of an Agatha Christie thriller: a meek-mannered country solicitor poisons his domineering wife, then sets about dosing a rival solicitor over a cream tea with a scone laced with arsenic. The man subsequently falls ill with symptoms similar to the dead wife and tongues begin to wag. The solicitor is found with packets of arsenic in his pockets and more in his desk – bought, he claimed, from a local chemist to poison the dandelions in his lawn. Such is the true tale of Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong, tried for the murder of his wife and executed in 1922 - the only solicitor ever to be hanged in Britain.

Armstrong lived and practised at Hay-on-Wye, now best-known for its annual international literary festival, but then a quiet country village. The office where he practised and was arrested is still a local law firm, as is the office of his rival Oswald Martin, just across the road. Both men were involved in a legal wrangle over the sale of a local estate, with Armstrong unable to hand over the costs because he had probably embezzled the money. Armstrong’s wife Kitty, who had died eight months earlier without any suspicions being aroused, was a harridan, known to humiliate her husband in public. He had found another companion: the mysterious Madame X as she was referred to at the trial: another motive for a poisoning. Kitty’s body was dug up by the police at dead of night so as not to arouse Armstrong’s suspicion and found to be riddled with poison. The case seemed open and shut. But did he do it, or was he framed? Armstrong seemed a devoted husband and no one saw him administering anything to his wife. The Armstrong case intrigued writers in the golden age of detective novels - Dorothy Sayers incorporated elements of the Armstrong case in two of her books and Georgette Heyer is said to have based a character on the diminutive solicitor. The case - a classic 1920s murder mystery set in 'Midsomer Murders' territory – remains a whodunit with a twist – that it really happened.

The Poisonous Solicitor

Royalty Inc

Regency Britain In The Year Of Waterloo

The Poisoner

Two Nations - Britain In 1846

The Photographer'S Boy

A passionate and established literary agency, representing a diverse range of award-winning and bestselling authors. We are committed to launching debut authors and developing long-term writing careers across all media.

About

The Viney Agency sells English language rights directly to the United Kingdom and separately to North America.

Translation Rights

The Viney Agency works with Catapult Rights or The Artists Partnership to secure the best book-to-film and TV rights deals for our authors.

TV & Film

Two Nations - Britain in 1846


Stephen Bates was educated at Oxford University, where he took a degree in Modern History. He was a journalist for 36 years, working for the BBC, *Daily Telegraph* and *Daily Mail* before joining the *Guardian* where he was subsequently education editor, political correspondent, European Affairs Editor, based in Brussels for five years, and finally the paper's religious affairs and royal correspondent. He reported from more than 40 countries on everything from wars and elections to royal visits, was named British religion writer of the year in 2005 and 2006 and is the author of three previous books: *A Church at War: Anglicans and Homosexuality* (Hodder and Stoughton);  *Asquith* (Haus), a biography of the Edwardian prime minister and G*od's Own Country: Religion and Politics in the US* (Hodder and Stoughton). A regular broadcaster, he also writes for the *Spectator, New Statesman* and *Time Magazine*. He lives in Kent.

His *Two Nations - Britain in 1846,* his history of a pivotal year in our history, was published by Head of Zeus in 2014. Duckworth and Overlook published *The Poisoner*, his biography of the notorious Victorian serial killer, Dr William Palmer, on both sides of the Atlantic in 2014. His first novel, *The Photographer's Boy* was published by Premier Digital in the US in 2013. *1815: Regency Britain in the Year of Waterloo* was published by Head of Zeus in 2015. *Royalty Inc.* about the function of - and challenges to - the British Royal Family was published to critical acclaim by Aurum in 2015. Icon published his true crime *The Poisonous Solicitor* in 2022. His _The Shortest History of the Crown_ was published by Old Street in 2022.

Icon will publish his next true crime - *The Man Who Sold Honours* in 2025.


From Alfred's burning of the cakes to the coronation of King Charles III, here is the definitive account of an institution that has shaped the Britain of today.
In this brief but fact-filled book Stephen Bates explores the long, often troubled history of the British monarchy, telling the stories behind the symbols and bringing to life the personalities behind the legends. And as the curtain rises on the reign of King Charles III, he asks what might lie ahead for the world’s best-known royal family.

The Shortest History of the Crown

by Stephen Bates

Other Publications

by Stephen Bates