Stephen - Carl Watkins

'Stephen risked being seen as a man who never quite transcended the
essential flawed-ness of his claim to be king. His actions betrayed
uneasiness in his new skin'

Remembered as a time in which
'Christ and his saints slept', Stephen's troubled reign plunged England
into anarchy. Without clear rules of succession in the Norman monarchy,
conflict within William the Conqueror's family was inevitable. But, as
this resonant portrait shows, there was another problem too: Stephen
himself, unable to make good the transition from nobleman to king.