Suitcase Essentials from the Sunday Times Culture
Non-Fiction History
God’s Traitors by Jessie Childs – A vivid, highly original history that sheds light on the suffering of Catholics under Elizabeth I. p. 30.
(c) Faber & Faber
The Hollow Crown by Dan Jones – A racy and vigorous narrative history of the Wars of the Roses. p.31
Event Magazine – The 100 Hottest Summer Books (Mail on Sunday)
Paperbacks – Non-fiction
God’s Traitors by Jessie Childs – We all know Bloody Mary liked to burn Protestants. But Childs focuses on the fate of Catholics in the reign of her sister, Elizabeth I, in this gripping history. p.17
Saturday Review – Summer Books (The Times)
History
(c) W&N
The Rival Queens: Catherine de Medici, her daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom by Nancy Goldstone
Historians often suspicious of feminine perfection, are apt to equate beauty with frivolity and foolishness. This, perhaps explains the tendency to denigrate Marguerite de Valois (Margot), especially in comparison to her unscrupulous mother, Catherine de Medici. Nancy Goldstone gives this familiar of two queens a new twist by allowing Margot to shine. She argues that her subtlety, dexterity and resilience brought a modicum of stability to turbulent times, thus dampening the ruinous impact of her cruel and exploitative family. Goldstone’s gift is her ability to make human the often cardboard characters of 16th-century France. p. 15
