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He seems to have laboured under an almost child-like misapprehension about the size of his world. Had greatness not been thrust upon him- he might have lived a life of great harmlessness.The reign of Edward II was a succession of disasters. Unkingly- inept in war- and in thrall to favourites- he preferred digging ditches and rowing boats to the tedium of government. His infatuation with a young Gascon nobleman- Piers Gaveston- alienated even the most natural supporters of the crown. Hoping to lay the ghost of his soldierly father- Edward I- he invaded Scotland and suffered catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn. After twenty ruinous years- betrayed and abandoned by most of his nobles and by his wife and her lover- Edward was imprisoned in Berkeley Castle and murdered - the first English king since the Norman Conquest to be deposed....