The first King of Great Britain (self-proclaimed until Parliament agreed), James Stuart has had a deservedly unenviable reputation owing to his family background, his bisexuality, his unsettled religious allegiances and his "juggle-and-rule" politics. This view of James is only slightly ameliorated by Lady Antonia Fraser [in her King James VI of Scotland, I of England]….

It would be difficult to be entirely partisan to James, and Lady Antonia stops short of adulation; but she clearly seeks to put the best gloss possible on him and on his son Charles I, to whom she refers as "the Martyr King."…

Skirting the basic conflicts in British life, Lady Antonia has produced a rather hollow essay—gorgeous on the outside, lavish in illustrations, felicitous in presentation, yet withal lacking in essential understanding of James's reigns. On superficial levels, nonetheless, she has cleared away some of the unjust accusations leveled against James...