September 24th – Elizabeth’s Women by Tracy Borman
It will explore all of the most important women in Elizabeth’s life: from her bewitching mother, Anne Boleyn, to her dangerously obsessive sister, Mary Tudor, and from the rivals to her throne such as Mary, Queen of Scots and the sisters of Lady Jane Grey, to the ‘flouting wenches’ like Lettice Knollys who stole her closest male favourite. These were the women who shaped the Virgin Queen and it is through their eyes that the real Elizabeth, stripped of her carefully cultivated image, is revealed.
From Tracy Borman.co.uk
Further details – Random House
Further details – Amazon
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October 1st – The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir
Not Jane related but a fascinating subject!
Never before has there been a book devoted entirely to Anne Boleyn’s fall. Alison Weir has reassessed the evidence and created a richly researched and detailed portrait of the last days of one of the most influential and important figures in English history.
From Amazon.co.uk
Further details – Amazon
Further details – Random House
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October 2nd – Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives
History has portrayed Jane as both a hapless victim of political intrigue and a Protestant martyr, but most of all as an irrelevance, hence the popular but erroneous label, the ‘nine days queen’. Revisiting the sources surrounding Jane Grey’s upbringing, Eric Ives challenges these views, presenting Jane Grey as an accomplished young woman with a fierce personal integrity, and England’s outstanding female scholar. He teases out the complex evidence of the 1553 crisis and dissects the moves and motives of each of the other protagonists: Edward VI himself, feverishly re–writing his will during his dying days; Mary Tudor, the woman who ‘won’ the crown; John Dudley, Jane’s father–in–law, traditionally the villain of the piece; and her father, Henry Grey. As the story moves through the summer of 1553 to Jane’s execution, we see these people as agents in Jane Grey’s unfolding tragedy and her eventual moral triumph. The result is a new and compelling dissection by a master historian and storyteller of one of history’s most shocking injustices.
From Amazon.co.uk
Further details – Wiley
Further details – Amazon
Read excerpts at:
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October 13th (USA) – The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy by Leanda de Lisle
Exploding the many myths of Lady Jane Grey’s life, unearthing the details of Katherine’s and Mary’s dramatic stories, and casting new light on Elizabeth’s reign, Leanda de Lisle gives voice and resonance to the lives of the Greys and offers perspective on their place in history and on a time when a royal marriage could gain a woman a kingdom or cost her everything.
From Amazon.com
Further details – Amazon.com
Further details – Random House
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December 11th – Mary Tudor Old and New Perspectives edited by Susan Doran and Thomas S Freeman
This collection of interdisciplinary essays examines the origins and growth of Mary Tudor’s historical reputation, from the reign of Elizabeth I up to the 20th century. Re-appraising aspects of her reign that have been misrepresented the book creates a more balanced, objective portrait of England’s last Catholic, and first female, monarch.
From Amazon.co.uk
Further details – Amazon
Further details – Palgrave Macmillan
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31st January 2010 – Catherine Parr by Elizabeth Norton
Wife, widow, mother, survivor, the story of the last queen of Henry VIII. The sixth wife of Henry VIII was also the most married queen of England, outliving three husbands before finally marrying for love.
…Catherine is remembered as the wife who survived but, without her strength of character it could have been very different…Catherine Parr is often portrayed as a matronly and dutiful figure. Her life was indeed one of duty but, throughout, she attempted to escape her destiny and find happiness for herself.
From Amazon.co.uk
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March 4th 2010 – Traitors of the Tower by Alison Weir
More than four hundred years ago, seven people – five of them women – were beheaded in the Tower of London. Three had been queens of England. The others were found guilty of treason. Why were such important people put to death? Alison Weir’s gripping book tells their stories: from the former friend betrayed by a man set on being king, to the young girl killed after just nine days on the throne. Alison Weir is a wonderful storyteller. Through her vivid writing, history comes alive.
From Amazon.co.uk
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March 12th 2010 – Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr
The book reveals the truth about Katherine Parr, establishing her as a leading figure among the female rulers of her time….Set amidst the lusts, intrigue and violence of a turbulent age, this book is the first serious but readable life of Henry’s last queen.
From LindaPorter.net