Product Description

From convenient accessory to sovereign lady, this book assesses the critical, colourful and, at times, dramatic role of the Tudor queens of England.From Elizabeth of York - wife of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch - through to Elizabeth I - her grand-daughter and the last in the line - this book explores some of the most colourful and dramatic women in British history. Queen consorts were central to the Royal Court but their role has rarely been examined or contrasted with the better known ruling queens. How did they behave (in and out of the bedchamber)? How powerful were they as patrons of learning and the arts? What religious views did they espouse and why? How successful and influential were they?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #421116 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 264 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781847250193
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
David Loades is one of the leading historians of the Tudor monarchy. He is the author of the definitive biography of Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary Tudor: A Life (Blackwell, 1989) and of Intrigue and Reason:The Tudor Court (Longman, 2004). He is Honorary Research Professor at the University of Sheffield and Director of the British Academy John Foxe Project.

Customer Reviews

A cursory history both good and bad
While I have a list of complaints about this book, I cannot wholly condemn it. If you are looking for an introductory history to the Tudor dynasty, it's not a bad place to start. It will leave you hungry for more in depth histories of each monarch (king or queen).

First off, I have to say that the book desperately needs another editorial review. The text is heavily sprinkled with missing commas, periods, misspellings, and in the chapter about Catherine of Aragon, on one page the author calls her sister Joanna and on the next page Juana. These are errors that absolutely should not be present in a $30 book.

Secondly, it feels as if the author wrote under too many constraints. This is only a 234 page book that spans roughly 200 years. Surely there could have been room for elaboration. I also felt the author was limited by focusing only on the queen in each chapter. This leaves much to be desired in the chapters on Catherine de Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, and Elizabeth of York if you are not already familiar with their contextual history.

I also feel that the author inserted one too many editorial comments about his subjects. It just plants a little seed of doubt - how much do I trust this author?

Finally, while portraits of the queens are nice to look at, it would have actually been helpful to have a family tree to reference. You will also want dictionaries by your side, both Latin and English. Is it just me or do authors seem pretentious when they use non-English phrases without translating them?

My recommendation: wait for the paperback. Hopefully by then, the publishers will have fired whoever edited this book.