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| | | From: Greensleeves (Original Message) | Sent: 11/9/2007 2:10 AM |
Was just cruising Amazon & discovered a plethora of books I hadn't seen (or had forgotten about, in the case of Weir) from our time period: Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey Katherine Howard: A Tudor Conspiracy Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics Mademoiselle Boleyn Royal Harlot: A Novel of the Countess Castlemaine and King Charles II To the Tower Born : A Novel of the Lost Princes The Rose of York: Crown of Destiny The Queen's Bastard Anyone read any of these? So many books, so little time  |
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Can't find the post at the moment (really should be working!) but I think I posted on this list about "The Serpent & The Moon" a bio of Diane & Catherine de Medici by HRH Princess Michael of Kent. I'd highly recommend it - very readable & lots of beautiful photos of sculpture, castles & paintings. terrilee |
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I almost have a desert island  Last year I was injured in an auto accident, so being out of work, I've had ample opportunity to slog through my Tudors TBR pile & then some  |
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Ooooo I've just seen some fabby new Plantagenet books! I so want these!!!  So many books, so little money LOL First up we have The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York by David Baldwin HERE....I read & reviewed The Perfect Prince which was about Perkin Warbeck, so I'd love to get my mitts on this one Why is it always Richard who survives & never Edward, BTW?  I also discovered Robin Maxwell has an earlier novel predating her Tudor ones called To the Tower Born about the Princes in the Tower, natch, over HERE. Then we have Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty by Anne Crawford HERE....though I hardly think a pair & a half LOL of Yorkist kings a dynasty thus makes, but I am a sucker for anything to do with RIII & the Wars of the Roses Paul Murray Kendall's definitive bio of RIII from 1975 has been reissued in paperback dirt cheap HERE. <dodges out of way of Ricardian rush> Then we have Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III by Michael Hicks HERE.....apparently there is a "England's Forgotten Queens" series. Pish I remember em all LOL Another allegedly forgotten one is Elizabeth Wydville: The Slandered Queen by Arlene Okerlund HERE....wondering if they say anything about her curious support of John de la Pole's rebellion in it? Then there's The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 by J.L. Laynesmith HERE; by the timeline I'm thinking tis about Margaret of Anjou (always a crowd-pleaser), ElizabethWoodvile, Anne Neville, & Elizabeth of York. Sidebar: Just realized Catherine of Aragon's arrival in England was the first foreign princess to become queen of England in nearly 50 years, since Margaret of Anjou got off the boat, then it took 30 years to get another (Anne of Cleves), & the next one was yonks later, Henrietta Maria (not counting Anne of Denmark as she came over to be queen of Scotland first). On to The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation by Ian Mortimer HERE. I'm guessing from the title that he really really likes EIII. He's also got another book that I am interested in, The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330 HERE. Also guessing from title that he's not so fussed on Mortimer. His most recent book is The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England's Self-Made King HERE. These have all come out within the last 18 months so hopefully he's good if he's that prolific. Alison Weir has backed away from the Tudors LOL & her newest book is a bio, Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt & His Scandalous Duchess HERE. I so hate when Catherine is spelt with a K  especially when it's done to Catherine of Aragon, whose name was really Catalina & Spanish doesn't spell that with a K now does it? The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick HERE is a bio of William Marshal, he who tried to keep Henry IIs devil brood in line. Karen Harper, who wrote The Last Boleyn, has gone back further in time with her latest novel, The First Princess of Wales HERE, about Joan of Kent & the Black Prince. Wife to the Bastard by Hilda Lewis HERE is a novel of Matilda & William the Conqueror & apparently mighty popular as tis sold out at Amazon atm. I read a book by her a long time ago called I Am Mary Tudor which was pretty decent. She has a plethora of other "queen" novels which can be looked up by clicking her name on the page, there's 3 on Mary alone, others on Mary Brandon, Catherine of Braganza, Catherine Woodville (Buckingham's wife in the EIV/RIII days), Isabella "the She-Wolf". These seem to all be reissues as they're mostly from the 1970s. And finally we have a rather judgmental title of Isabella: Queen Without a Conscience by Rachel Bard HERE.....this one's on Isabella of Angouleme, John's 2nd wife. She was rather sluttish as I recall but so evil as to not possess a conscience? Apparently this author has written 2 other queenly books as per her bio, Berengaria: Queen Without a Country (perhaps there's a title theme going on) & Joanna: A Reed in the Wind, about RIs sister, the Queen of Sicily. These are novels & tis a trilogy so I see. Good to know so one starts at the beginning. Now this one's not specifically Plantagenet or Tudor (methinks) & is 8 years old, but I've just stumbled across it. The Death of Kings: A Medical History of the Kings & Queens of England by Clifford Brewer HERE. I am irked that there is no teaser as to what it contains, & being only 250 pages & lots of kings & queens to cover, it can't possibly be terribly thorough, but tis intriguing nonetheless to hear of a book such as this one, with all the speculating we do about what ailed Henry & the rest of the Tudor lads. On to the Tudors.....This one is going high up on my TBR list. Ladies in Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day by Anne Somerset HERE. I wish I'd seen it yesterday when I was ordering the Walsingham book. All that protocal & royal arse wiping must be fascinating to behold LOL New Elizabeth novel: The Queen's Handmaiden by Jennifer Ashley HERE, from the POV of Kat Ashley's fictitious niece, a lady in waiting. Didn't someone recently inquire about a good bio of Bess of Hardwick? I dunno if it's good but tis fat (576 pages) so here ya go....Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder by Mary S. Lovell HERE. There's also a bio of Essex's sister coming soon HERE, The Lady Penelope: The Lost Tale of Love & Politics in the Court of Elizabeth I by Sally Varlow. O I wish I'd seen this one yesterday as well....Tudor bargain book alert!!! Arbella: England's Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood is reduced to $6.99 US HARDCOVER! HERE. <runs off to check if finances can stand another Amazon order this week> Quickie Stuarts: novel about Monmouth called The King's Touch by Jude Morgan HERE. This thread is basically my online library & shopping list LOL My head is spinning just thinking about em all |
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I'm half thru "Mademoiselle Boleyn"...The way Anne 'talks' about Mary is not how I think of the way she might have been. She seems to come across as simple minded, bordering on b-i-t-c-h... I think of her more as being a victim, but she seems pretty happy being the present misstress. The part I'm at is where Mary is about to be dumped by francois.  |
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I don't think Mary was so happy when Francois ordered her to go do a passel of his gentlemen  |
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OK I broke down.....I got the Arabella Stuart book, the Bess of Hardwick book, & the ladies in waiting book My Catherine Howard bio ought to arrive any day now as the trade paperback edition was set to be issued this week & I pre-ordered it |
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My Catherine Howard book came today HOORAY!  Except that I still have about 100 pages left to go in The Pillars of the Earth, which I finally got around to reading.....all 900+ pages of it Tis almost as big as Gone With the Wind!  |
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Thanks for the tip, Mark. I have been feeling a bit guilty about reading so many books on English history whilst neglecting my own country's past. That said, I have read Magnus Magnusson's "Scotland: The Story of a Nation", which I enjoyed. Would like to try another one though, Tranter's "The Story of Scotland" looks good. At the moment I am reading Alison Weir's "Isabella - She-wolf of France, Queen of England", really enjoying it. I always thought Edward II was just weak, never realised he was a tyrant too. I'm hoping those nasty Despensers get their comeuppance |
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"Partial remains"....was he buried in pieces? Wasn't he drawn & quartered instead of decapitated? |
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Which reminds me....there is this novel called Hugh and Bess: A Love Story by Susan Higginbotham HERE which tells the story of Hugh le Despenser III, that one's son, & his wife, Elizabeth de Montacute. |
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