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Granuaile: Ireland's Pirate Queen C. 1530-1603
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Average customer review:
Product Description
Using state papers and manuscripts of the period, Anne Chambers reveals the woman behind the legend and presents one of history's most remarkable women against the turbulent political environment of her time. What emerges is a woman who challenges our predisposed sense of convention, who, over four hundred years ago, was one of the first women to break the mold and make a unique contribution to history.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #678824 in Books
- Published on: 2003-11
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 205 pages
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Anne Chambers is a novelist, scriptwriter, and bestselling biographer. Her books include As Wicked a Woman, Eleanor Countess of Desmond (shortlisted for the 1987 GPA Award), Adorable Diva, the biography of the prima donna, Margaret Burke Sheridan, and The Geraldine Conspiracy, a historical novel.
Customer Reviews
Remarkable Story of a 16th Century Irish Woman
As the author, Anne Chambers states, Granuaile (Grace O'Malley) "broke the mould" for women of Western Europe in the 16th century. For all of the achievements and acclaim accorded to Elizabeth Tudor (Queen Elizabeth I), Granuaile's story is even more remarkable. Elizabeth might be famous for unleashing her infamous "sea dogs" (e.g., Drake and Hawkins), but Granuaile was a "sea dog" in a man's world, plying her craft on the western shores of Ireland (Galway, Connemara). Granuaile did not just order men into battle from the safety of a castle, she actually led men into battle herself. And, she did not, like Elizabeth, forgo marriage and children. She became a notable Gaelic chieftan in a time when the old Gaelic order was under assault and in decline.
This biography is scrupulously researched and well written. I found it to be most compelling because the author does not romanticize Granuaile and the troubled era she lived in. Chambers avoids the presentist trap into which many authors fall, when they search through history to find antecedents of Irish/Celtic/Gaelic nationalism. Life was more complex than the simple duality of Gaelic twilight versus English colonization. Granuaile played both sides against the middle in a deadly battle for survival which she won for her self and her descendents. The book's climatic meeting between Grauaile and Elizabeth shows that the Irish chieftaness was able to out maneuver the brutal English overlord Bingham, Gloriana, and her master of wily statecraft, Lord Burghley.
Granuaile's true story is more compelling than any fictional account of pirate queens. She was a great woman whose foresight, strength, daring, seafaring ability, and political acumen provide us all, men and women, Irish and non-Irish, with a fascinating glimpse into one woman's struggle to prevail between the English monarchy and the lords of Ireland in the 16th century.
A powerful writer, brings true events to life .
If you're interested in the women who lived in the 1500s in Ireland, you'll enjoy this book. Grace O'Malley was known in her times as the "Queen of the Sea", the queen of pirates. This was the first of Anne's books which I read while in Ireland, last summer. After finishing Grace O'Malley, I was hooked on her books. Her writing style of the history of Ireland is easy for any reader, at any level, to understand. The story comes to life and you soon find yourself, there, back in time" with the characters in this book.
Comprehensive, concise and entertaining
I think this is a beautifully researched book with concise information about Grace O'Malley, her clan and Ireland during her life. The only book you need to know everything you need to know!
