I was browsing thru the library & this lept off the shelf & into my bag!
Soverign Ladies - Sex, Sacrifice & Power - the Six Reigning Queens of England, by Maureen Waller.
I've just started this book, but am already enjoying it immensely! The six queens are, of course, Mary & Elizabeth Tudor, Mary II & Anne Stuart, Victoria & Elizabeth II. Although she does mention Matilda, daughter of Henry I in the introduction.
The author makes some intersting points about Mary Tudor, being a queen regnant, yet as a wife, she saw herself as subject to her husband. Elizabeth, however, used the idea of having two bodies - the 'body politic' being that of a king, while her 'natural body' was a weak woman.
While there are only a few color plates in the center of the book, they are some that I've never seen before, instead of the usual ones, so that's nice. Also two big family trees, one showing the houses of Tudar & Stuart, the other the houses of Hanover, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha & Windsor. Also a complete table of rulers since the Conquest.
I may have to get my own copy!
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