Product Description

Making available a selection of some of the most significant recent work on the Tudor Monarchy, this Reader gives a good sense of the issues that have preoccupied historians and of the ways in which the traditional concerns of power and politics have been enlarged by growing attention to less conventional facets of the subject, including the wider agenda of Renaissance statecraft, the phenomenon of female rule, the interdependence of Court and localities, and the significance of frontiers and borderlands in the shaping of Tudor political culture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2215116 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 404 pages

About the Author
John Guy is at St. Leonard's College, University of St. Andrews.

Customer Reviews

Good survey of recent scholarship
This collection of readings brings together fifteen "benchmark" essays -- those that have been formative in recent Tudor scholarship -- by a number of key authors in the field. The three sections consider the nature of monarchy in the Renaissance, the role of personality in royal politics, and the exercise of power outside the immediate court. Of particular interest to us are David Starkey's "Representation through Intimacy: A Study in the Symbolism of Monarchy. . . ," Steven Gunn's "The Courtiers of Henry VII," Simon Adams's "Favourites and Factions at the Elizabeth Court," and Margaret Condon's "Ruling Elites in the Reign of Henry VII." The style varies from merely academic to densely so, but they should accessible to upper-division students.

useful and fascinating collection of obscure essays
This book, edited by the great giant of early modern history, John Guy, provides an accessible collection of various essays by respected historians which have recently appeared in more obscure parts of the academic press.

These essays demonstrate the extent to which this period of history is still dominated by Geoffery Elton, who was tutor to two contributors, Guy and David Starkey, at Cambridge. Both historians' currnet writings are a reaction against the ideas of their former tutor, although both also acknowledge their great debt to and respect for him. Starkey is the more populist historian, with his stories about the activities of Henry VIII's bedchamber, but his, to say the least, unique insight is also valuable in that it makes one consider again the function of the early modern court. In his mind these historical figures are very real people, and this is communicated through his writing. John Guy, if less flamboyant, is also fascinating.

I found this ! ! book especially enlightening on the importance of Tudor iconography, especially Elizabeth's use of Yorkist symbols.

As an economic way of reading various opinions on various subjects, this is an invaluable resource for any serious student.

Incidentally, I was not paid or asked by anyone to write this-it is true!