Edward ii’s last months have aroused considerable interest over the past decade. The revival of the theory that he escaped from Berkeley Castle and fled to the Continent, where he survived for several years, and that the body buried beneath his wonderful tomb in Gloucester Cathedral was consequently not his, but (perhaps) that of one of his gaolers, has gained little traction in academic circles but a minority following among devotees elsewhere. They will take little comfort from this book. Although aware of these arguments, the authors either ignore or reject them. Edward’s murder, we are told straightforwardly, ‘took place on Monday 21 September [1327]’, and it was at Berkeley that the deed was done. A month later, on 21 October, his body was taken to Gloucester ‘in a lavish cortège’; the fact that it is Edward’s body that lies there is not doubted for a moment (pp 33–4).

Although certainty is impossible, the evidence provided by the authors of this collaborative volume suggests that they are right. There are two main parts to this magnificently illustrated book. The first consists of a series of extracts from the Berkeley Castle muniments, digitally reproduced in eighty-six photographs, with translations, accompanied by a running commentary. Most of these simply record the purchase of provisions and so forth for ‘the father of the king’ (as Edward ii was now called) but they also enable the authors to make interesting observations about the size of the former king’s household in captivity and his brief rescue and recapture in July 1321, which necessitated substantial repairs to the castle. One extract (p 47) puts it virtually beyond doubt that Edward was at some point, perhaps following the attempted rescue, moved to Corfe Castle (Dorset) for a few weeks (Sir John Maltravers, lord of Corfe, was one of the men entrusted with his custody).

The second and longest section of the book is an architectural and structural analysis of Edward’s tomb in the choir of Gloucester Cathedral (at that time Gloucester Abbey), accompanied by a further sixty-seven illustrations, several in colour. The extensive restoration of the monument since 2006 (designed to coincide with the 700th anniversary of the king’s accession in 1307) was evidently the inspiration for this superb and immensely detailed description, not least because it allowed examination and photography of parts of the monument hitherto inaccessible. As a result, the authors are able to provide a step-by-step account of the monument’s construction, the techniques and materials used and its context, by which is meant essentially the remodelling of the abbey’s choir, one of the glories of early Perpendicular architecture in England – as is the spiky, beautifully proportioned tomb canopy above the alabaster effigy of the king, ‘a shrine in stone’ (p 123).

The book concludes with two brief chapters, in effect appendices. The first reproduces digitally and translates the infamous ‘Fieschi Letter’, the basis for much of the speculation about Edward’s survival on the Continent after 1327. Like most historians, the authors conclude that it was a forgery, but offer plausible new insights into the reasons for its fabrication and insertion into the cartulary of the bishops of Maguelone. The second is a letter of 1913 recalling the opening of Edward’s tomb in 1855 (although its reliability is in certain respects also called into question). The principal consequence of this excellent volume may well be that it makes available the evidence upon which theories of Edward ii’s captivity, death or survival are based, enabling interested parties to reach their own conclusions based on the original documents. Yet it is also a work of erudition and good sense, and all those involved in producing it should be congratulated.