Elizabeth I

Book Description

Glitteringly detailed and engagingly written, the magisterial Elizabeth I brings to vivid life the golden age of sixteenth-century England and the uniquely fascinating monarch who presided over it. A woman of intellect and presence, Elizabeth was the object of extravagant adoration by her contemporaries. She firmly believed in the divine providence of her sovereignty and exercised supreme authority over the intrigue-laden Tudor court and Elizabethan England at large. Brilliant, mercurial, seductive, and maddening, an inspiration to artists and adventurers and the subject of vicious speculation over her choice not to marry, Elizabeth became the most powerful ruler of her time. Anne Somerset has immortalized her in this splendidly illuminating account.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive and Interesting.......2007-05-26

I had never read a historical biography before, and I had no idea a book like this could be such a page turner. I could hardly put it down! Somerset does a superb job placing this brilliant monarch in the context of her time period. She goes into detail about court intrigues, political strife, and personal relationships. I found the book much more exciting and dramatic than the movie. after reading this book, I felt that I understood not just Elizabeth better, but the whole Elizabethan era. To top things off, Somerset's style is easy to read. The book is well researched and objective; never over romanticizing or over criticizing. Plus, it's a thick book so you get more for your money. I would have liked to hear more about the Queen's supposed virginity (Somerset goes with the Virgin Queen angle) but I'd still pick this book over Allison Weir any day.

Best biography of Elizabeth I.......2007-05-13

This is the most substantial and elegantly written of the recent biographies of Elizabeth I. Somerset is especially good on Elizabeth's character (indecisiveness was a big element in it). The book includes excellent summaries of complicated and obscure issues like the England's campaigns in the Netherlands. You get a clear sense of Elizabeth's learning and mastery of languagde, but I did wish for more quotation from Elizabeth's speeches and letters. On that front, it's helpful to read this biography together with Elizabeth I: Collected Works, which includes modern-spelling versions of these (plus her poetry, etc.).

a clear-eyed personal and political bio .......2006-11-05

This is an insightful and fascinating look into the age of Elizabeth I: not only does the author explore her complex private life, but her techniques of holding and exercising power and diplomacy - always mixed together - are examined with a depth that never romanticises this remarkable leader.

The story begins with a frightening look into the battle for succession. Her half-sister, Bloody Mary, at the moment is attempting to re-convert the country with ruthless brutality to the Catholicism of her mother, whom Henry VIII divorced to marry Anne Boleyn, E I's mother. Thus, E I faced not only the normal suspicion of treasonous intent between bitter blood rivals with a personal twist, but also was open in her protestantism during the bloodiest epoch of the Reformation. While E I survived and was crowned as queen, the legitimacy of her claim was always under threat - her difficult though charismatic Catholic cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, served as a living reminder of how easily E I might be replaced on the throne. E I survives, of course, and more or less triumphs over all her adversaries, but she was never bloodthirsty.

Behind this basic plot, Somerset masterfully dissects the machinery of government of the time. As an absolute sovereign, E I had the last word, but she relied on a series of deeply trusted advisors as well as a network of courtiers, with whom she forged extremely close (perhaps physical) relationships. They form a fascinating backdrop as the story unfolds with their attempts to manipulate while serving her. It is as complex as a Shakespearean drama and yet Somerset is wonderfully even-handed in her treatmet of them all, from Cecil and Dudley to the deranged and dangerous step son of Dudley. E I's missteps, pride, and personal need for attention and love are criticially covered in just the right level of detail: not academically over-exhaustive, but satisfyingly complete nonetheless. After reading this, I went to the National Portrait Gallery in London and immensely enjoyed looking at paintings of virtually all of the characters. Finally, the finances of the Kingdon, so interlinked with the patronage system she managed to keep her aristocrats happy, are explained in perfect detail that is never excessive. There is also a clear explanation of E I's carefully engineered religious compromise as embodied in the Anglican Church.

Then there are the details of E I's diplomacy: she held out the prospect of marriage as a tool of this, ever enticing suitors, but never quite committing. It was a brilliant balancing act, in which she often felt personally vulnerable and perhaps even hopeful of finding a love match, while ever cunningly manipulative. This was perhaps the most fascinating for me, with characters surpassing her courtiers, such as the Duke d'Anjou, who preferred men and was later a transvestite before being murdered as the French King. But there were score of others, including Philip II, her great rival in Spain and former brother-in-law, whose Armada she crippled to make England a true world power with new naval techniques.

Warmly recommended. THis is a masterpiece of popular scholarship, beautifully written, and elegantly subtle as well as demandingly critical. It is the perfect supplement to those who enjoyed Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth. The only thing that I would have wanted in this is a more in-depth cultural explanation of the Age she was identified with, but that would be a book in itself.

The First Iron lady?.......2006-07-22

This is an excellent book and a lively and interesting read. Anne Somerset gives an insight into all sides of the character of Elizabeth. Her moods and feelings, (she was renowned at the time for her short temper), both as a woman and a Queen.

The glamour of the Tudor court and what it was like to be in or out of favour in a clique where a careless word could in some cases cost you your life.

Elizabeth did not suffer fools gladly and the book examines her religious feelings, her sexuality and the way she dealt with conflicts both at home and abroad in what was essentially a man's world. Elizabeth was nobody's fool and although she would listen to her advisers, she had a mind of her own, shrewd and extremely intelligent, and was quite capable of using her authority as monarch to make important decisions for herself.

The book is a delight for anyone with the slightest interest in history.

A Well-Researched and Detailed Account.......2005-07-07

I thought Somerset's Elizabeth I was an excellent biography. At almost every turn you were loaded with so many little facts and intricacies that seemed to go off on another tangent but somehow ended up where it began and leaving you with an even better understanding of the topic.

What I liked was how Somerset presented the information. She was not in awe, and her writing was straightforward and no-nonsense. She didn't try to make Elizabeth seem more than a person, and she included all the aspects of the woman's personality, including an outrageous vanity and an almost childlike stubborness.

While, of course, a biography of Elizabeth I, it is not so much about her, but of every person that had a factor in her life, including a weak, disastrous older sister and queen, a father desperate for sons, the queen's favorite but court-despised Dudley, and her tumultous relationship with her cousin, Mary Stuart.

From start to end, its only purpose is to be as informative as possible, and though it may occasionally wander, it is filled with detail and research, which is all one can truly ask of such a book.

Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen

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Howling Mistakes Make This Book Unusable for Research
RIDICULOUS
Mixed Emotions
Don't bother
The best biographies of Anne are written by women.

Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen
Joanna Denny
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0306814749

Book Description

A new biography that reveals the truth about Anne Boleyn- intelligent, literate, and devout-as well as the truth about her king and his court-violent, scheming, and profane

No English queen has enjoyed such notoriety as Anne Boleyn, and none has been so persistently vilified. Even after her execution in May 1536, on trumped-up charges of adultery, her reputation has been pursued beyond the grave, subjected to all manner of accusation. The unsavory account of her life that has come down through history is one shaped by her enemies.

Joanna Denny's powerful new biography presents a radically different picture of Anne-a woman who was highly literate, accomplished, and a devout defender of her Protestant faith. Her tragedy was that her looks and vivacious charm attracted the notice of a violent and paranoid king and trapped her in the vicious politics of the Tudor court, where a deadly game was being played between the old nobility and the new, between the old faith and the new.

Denny's compelling account of Anne Boleyn plunges the reader into the heart of the intrigue, romance, and danger of the Tudor court and the turbulent times that changed England forever. It will change forever our perception of this much-maligned queen.

Customer Reviews:

Howling Mistakes Make This Book Unusable for Research.......2007-09-30

As a scholar of the French Renaissance, I went into this book happily thinking it would have the latest research on Anne and Henry VIII. Several mistakes from the get-go made me doubt all of Denny's assertions. I have serious issues with this book and would not like people to use it as a research source so they don't perpetuate some ridiculous tales. Here are just a few of my findings:

Assertion: "Henry VIII suffered from one illness or accident after another. He had frequent bouts of malaria all his life the first in 1524." Fact: No backup for this claim.

Assertion: Francois I of France "blew up in his coffin." Fact: I love this one, but can't find any other source to back this up.

Assertion: Francois I of France died of syphilis. Fact: The very latest writings in English and French doubt this. The cause of his death has been debated for years.

Assertion: "Henry invited Jean Du Bellay, who combined the roles of Bishop of Bayonne and Imperial ambassador to accompany them on progress where they made arrangements for a new summit meeting at Calais that autumn." Fact: Jean Du Bellay was from a noble French family and enjoyed the full confidence of the French King throughout his life. He was never an Imperial ambassador. Du Bellay was in England during the Boleyn crisis and wrote copiously on the situation. This gaff is akin to calling, say, Thomas Jefferson a Swedish ambassador. It throws the whole picture out of kilter.

Again, I have serious issues with this book and would not like people to use it as a research source so they don't perpetuate some ridiculous tales.

RIDICULOUS.......2007-08-30

Please don't buy this book. Please do not call Joanna Denny an historian. There are too many flaws to even begin to name (see other reviews below if you want a few examples). If I would have turned this book in as a paper in one of my history classes back in college, I would have easily failed the assignment. If I could have given it less than 1 star, I would have. This book should be in the fiction section of any bookstore or library.

Mixed Emotions.......2007-06-29

As a Roman Catholic, I was very troubled by the tone of this book. Ms. Denny seems to use every opportunity to attack the Catholic Church. The more I read, the more I wondered 'is she attacking the Church of the 16th century or the current Roman Catholic Church?'.

All those remarks about worshipping graven images began to get on my nerves. When I as a Catholic pray before a statue, I am not 'the heathen in his blindness/ bows down to clay and stone", but using the statue to focus my thoughts and prayers to God. It's the same way people use the music of hymns to praise the Lord. No one in their right mind would say that the congregation was worshipping the hymnal--nor is the Catholic adoring a statue or rosary beads.

Furthermore, I got rather tired of the 'arrogant' Catherine versus Saintly Anne. Why not let Anne Boleyn's intellect and charm speak for itself--was it necessary to attack Catherine of Aragon with points of accuracy. Some of Catherine's 'obstinacy' was to protect the right of her Daugher, Mary, to rule England. Catherine was the daughter of Isabel, a warrior Queen and believed that a married woman could be the head of state as well as a wife and mother.

As for Protestant versus Catholic, I agree with Elizabeth I, who remarked that 'there is one Christ Jesus; the rest is all trifles"

Lawyerkiki

Don't bother.......2007-06-28

I normally don't write reviews for books I have not read, but I sat down in Borders last night with this title and flipped through it for about 15 minutes. Within the first 5, I was convinced I didn't want to buy it, but kept reading because I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Even the illustrations signal red flags: the famous National Portrait Gallery painting of Anne Boleyn is called "the original," when even we amateur armchair historians know it's a copy; photostats of typescripts of Henry VIII's love letters are not historical documents; the "Thomas Boleyn" portrait misidentified again; plenty of irrelevant and/or non-contemporary illustrations that look like they're just there to fill space. Denny actually revisits the old did-Henry VIII-have-syphilis "debate," which has not been a debate for at least a century. She does this by strongly implying that he did, giving us a little history lesson on the background and symptoms of the disease, and ending the issue with a brief "though maybe he didn't"-type statement. It reads more like an undergraduate history paper done at the last minute than a serious piece of scholarly research.

For a biography that claims to present Anne as a highly literate, feminist reformer, etc., there is still distressingly little mention of her mentor, the brilliant Marguerite of Navarre (who Anne clearly loved and admired throughout her life, and whose example she tried to follow). Feminism does not mean playing good-guys/bad-guys (or gals).

I strongly suspect this biography was written to "correct" the drubbing that Anne's character has recently received at the hands of Gregory's novel "The Other Boleyn Girl," which paints her as a shrewish monster. Gregory in turn claims to have used Retha Warnicke's scholarship as a source; a few people here have suggested Warnicke as an alternative read to Denny. I suggest Karen Lindsay's "Divorced, Beheaded, Survived" as the best example of feminist scholarship on the Tudor period that I have read.

The best biographies of Anne are written by women........2007-04-04

Joanna Denny's book took my breath away. She puts all the remaining evidence together and comes up with the most plausible scenario for these historic events. Most of the revisionist history is necessarily that of Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, since much information about Anne Boleyn has been destroyed.
For centuries Anne has been reviled as a stain on the noble Tudor dynasty. The nobility was entirely self-manufactured; the Tudors were expert publicists, seeking any way they could to legitimize their usurping dynasty.
Many things are explained that have been glossed over in other books: the strange upbringing of Henry VIII, the relationships between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, who would rather have married Richard III!(Denny is clearly a Ricardian, and I would have liked to have had a footnote here, but she quotes an apparently still-extant letter where the Princess asks to marry Richard.) The Tudors are fortunate to have had Shakespeare's play propagandizing for them for centuries.
Denny strips away centuries of accepted thinking about history, particularly about the brutal and psychotic Henry VIII, and I could only wish that she had more footnotes to reinforce some of her more controversial statements. This book is therefore not receiving five stars, but all other aspects are excellent. It is a book that brings history and its actors to life. It is best to also buy the excellent LIFE AND DEATH OF ANNE BOLEYN which makes the same assertion that it was a clash over religion that eventually doomed Queen Anne to the block.

Yale English Monarchs - Queen Anne (The English Monarchs Series)

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Queen Anne Not the Dullard Afterall
Excellent review of the turmoil of the Late Stuart period

Yale English Monarchs - Queen Anne (The English Monarchs Series)
Edward Gregg
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0300090242

Book Description

The reign of Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, was a period of significant progress for the country: Britain became a major military power on land, the union of England and Scotland created a united kingdom of Great Britain, and the economic and political basis for the Golden Age of the eighteenth century was established. However, the queen herself has received little credit for these achievements and has long been pictured as a weak and ineffectual monarch dominated by her advisers. This landmark biography of Queen Anne shatters that image and establishes her as a personality of integrity and invincible stubbornness, the central figure of her age.

Customer Reviews:

Queen Anne Not the Dullard Afterall.......2006-02-20

I throughly enjoyed this book by Edward Gregg. It reads well and tells a story of one of England's most misunderstood monarchs. Much of our views about Queen Anne come from that excellent British series "The First Churchills" based mostly on the memoirs of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. Churchill shows Queen Anne as dull, easily bullied and indecisive. In fact, as Gregg demonstrates, Anne was engaged in all aspects of British political life. She pursued a balanced policy between Whigs and Tories. Under her reign, Britain emerged as the premier military power in Europe- defeating the Sun Kings' plans to unite the Spanish and French empires into one political unit. The empire expanded to new heights. Importantly, she navigated England through a tumultous time. While stubborn, like most Stuart monarchs, she did not display the arrogance of power that afflicted her father, James II. She appears to me to be somewhere between the pragmatism of Charles II and the implacable Mary II. Handel has written a wonderful ode about Anne "The day that gave great Anna birth, Who fix'd a lasting peace on earth." Gregg has done a wonderful job in reminding us that Queen Anne deserves better recognition as one of England's great monarchs.

Excellent review of the turmoil of the Late Stuart period.......2004-01-29

During Queen Anne's reign Britain consolidated its position as a first rank
European power. Prior to that England had been the doughty underdog, who
somehow survived to trade another day, its politics plagued with factions and bloody
divisions. During Anne's reign the divisions persisted, but was worked out with less
bloody consequences.

Professor Gregg's was allowed access to the large volume of correspondence between
Anne and her one time close friend Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough were the power couple of the period. The Duke won great military victories for Britain on the continent and the Duchess was very influential in the early years of Queen Annes' rule. So the correspondence is very revealing of the twists and turns of the political process. Anne could only rule through parliament, and being childless (despite sixteen pregnancies!) was
susceptible to pressure as to who should succeed her. Her father, James II, a Catholic, had been deposed and was living in exile in France, where he had the support of Louis XIV. The next nearest Protestant relative was George Augustus of Hannover, a rather dour, provincial potentate. Through the later
years of her reign, Anne struggled with parliament to establish her own authority, limit the power of Louis XIV in Europe, secure the Protestant succession and
simultaneously deter the George Augustus from coming to Britain while she lived - this last was necessary to stop a rival power structure emerging. This was done against the backdrop of increasing expensive military campaigns and a country which was sentimentally attached to the Stuarts and neutral about the Hannovarians. The struggles within parliament and between parliament and the court are well described by Professor Gregg, who is especially good at describing the rather-stoic Anne's stuggle to establish her authority. The early letters to the Duchess of Marlborough are unusually revealing of her struggle to assert herself.

If the book has a weakness it is the over-reliance on these letters. The friendship between Anne and Sarah soured considerably, as Anne took more and more
decisions which contradicted Sarah's advice. Eventually Anne turned to a number of
other advisors, however correspondence with these others is much more limited, while Sarah continued to inundated Anne with increasingly shrill correspondence. Gregg, in the absence of other documentation, quotes heavily from later correspondence between the women, even though the relevance to contemporary events diminishes.

Overall the book is an excellent, personalized description of Annes times and life.
By being so focussed on the monarch it gives an insight into the connections between families in the fight for preferment - several examples exist of proximity to royalty translating into high office; the father of James II's `low born' wife became the Earl of Clarendon, and Anne spent most of her reign ignoring and avoiding him. In this way it is possible to trace and understand the patterns of
patronage and influence which make English history seem so impenetrable.

Book Description

This book is a study of the marrying of Anne of Cleves to King Henry VIII. It contains fascinating material--including "demonic" interference and sexual politics at court--that differs greatly from the usual stereotyped accounts of Anne. It also provides a rich new context of royal courtship rituals, and a startling account of the king's failure to consummate his marriage. Henry's decision to ally himself with this German noblewoman in 1540 was in part a reaction to the Franco-Imperial Treaty mediated by Pope Paul III, who renewed a suspended bull of excommunication against Henry in the hope of isolating England diplomatically. The subsequent marriage procedures, from the advent of negotiations and the portrait of Anne by Hans Holbein the Younger to Henry's Rochester greeting of Anne--in disguise--and the Greenwich nuptials, all followed usual royal protocol. However, the king's sexual incapacity, which prevented the consummation of the marriage, culminated in the fall and subsequent execution of Thomas Cromwell and his client Lord Hungerford, who were both tarred with the brush of sexual heresy. Retha M. Warnicke is Professor of History at Arizona State University. She is the author of several books, including The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn (Cambridge 1989).

Customer Reviews:

Not what I expected.......2000-07-06

When I first started this book I was hoping that it was one that would give some insight into the life of Anne of Cleves, what she was like as a person etc. I was also hoping that it would touch on the controversty surrounding the portrait done of her by Hans Holbein (it mentions the scandal briefly to say that he did not misrepresent her in the portrait). Instead it focuses on marriage and uses Anne as its example. Not to say that this topic was not interesting, I just felt as though the title was misleading in terms of the book's subject matter. It really does not talk about her until you are half way through the book. I would recomend reading this book but only after it has become a paperback or if you want to know about the history of marriage within the Church.

Warnicke's "The Marrying of Anne of Cleves" an Engaging Read.......2000-07-03

Dr. Warnicke's latest book is quite enlightening. I admit that I didn't know much about Anne of Cleves or how she came to be married to Henry VIII, but learned that what I had read was largely inaccurate. Dr. Warnicke makes Anne's situation quite clear, much as she did in her book about Anne Boleyn.

The information about royal protocol in selecting and securing foreign-born brides was also fascinating. The book definitely bears a second reading, IMO.

The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Early Mode.......2000-05-05

Excellent! Lots of detail and background. Ms. Warnicke provides details from many courts and now I finally understand just how Anne of Cleves ended up in England. I enjoyed this as much as her previous book on Anne Boleyn.

Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father's Crown

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Shallow and Disappointing
Compelling and informative
Obvious writer bias ruins interesting subject
A great read.
Competent biography of the last of the Fatally Flawed Stuarts

Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father's Crown
Maureen Waller
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 031230711X

Book Description

In 1688, the birth of a Prince of Wales ignited a family quarrel and a revolution. James II’s drive towards Catholicism had alienated the nation and his two staunchly Protestant daughters by his first marriage, Mary and Anne. They are the ‘ungrateful daughters’ who usurped their father’s crown and stole their brother’s birthright.

Seven prominent men sent an invitation to William of Orange---James’s nephew and son-in-law---to intervene in English affairs. But it was the women, Queen Mary Beatrice and her two stepdaughters, Mary and Anne, who played a key role in this drama. Jealous and resentful of her hated stepmother, Anne had written a series of malicious letters to her sister Mary in Holland, implying that the Queen’s pregnancy was a hoax, a Catholic plot to deny Mary her rightful inheritance.

Betrayed by those he trusted, distraught at Anne’s defection, James fled the kingdom. Even as the crown descended on her head, Mary knew she had incurred a father’s curse. The sisters quarreled and were still not speaking to each other when Mary died tragically young. Anne did nothing to deserve her father’s forgiveness, declaring her brother an outlaw with a price on his head.

Acclaimed historian Maureen Waller recreated the late Stuart era in a compelling narrative that highlights the influence of three women in one of the most momentous events in English history. Prompted by religious bigotry and the emotion that beset any family relationships, this palace coup changed the face of the monarchy, and signaled the end of a dynasty.

Customer Reviews:

Shallow and Disappointing.......2007-06-14

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was a compelling human drama as well as a major political event. At the center of the political events were Mary II and Anne, daughters of James II, real human beings who faced difficult decisions as to where their duty lay. Unfortunately, Ungrateful Daughters does a very poor job of telling this story. Instead of a story of real people dealing with an actual dilemma, Waller's book tells the tale as a shallow soap opera with the principals divided into neat categories of victims (James II and Mary Beatrice) and villains (William, Mary, and Anne).

The theme of James II as victim has come into vogue in recent years, as the result of a revisionist historical interpretation which casts him as a proto-modern champion of religious toleration. Regardless of the sincerity of James's professions about liberty of conscience, they were the result of the fact that members of his own Roman Catholic faith were a minority in Britain and would thus be the beneficiaries of any alteration in religious policy. James certainly never exhibited any inclination toward tolerance that would not end up benefiting members of his own Church. There is no record that his enthusiasm for toleration ever led him to press for better treatment of Protestants in countries with a Catholic majority. At exactly the same time that James was advocating tolerance of Catholics in Britain, the Protestants in Louis XIV's France were being forced to either convert to Catholicism or emigrate, and there is no record that James II ever protested to Louis about their treatment.

However, the deeper issue between James II and Parliament was not religious but political. James professed that he, as king, had the power to suspend and dispense with laws enacted by Parliament. Parliament, understandably, strongly disagreed with this claim, and there was bound to be a clash at some point. Religious policy just happened to be the issue upon which the disagreement came to a head. Waller is not as sympathetic to James as the most extreme revisionists (which incurred the ire of at least one reviewer on this site), but the theme of James as victim is a major one, as evinced by the title of the book itself.

Waller spends a great deal of time discussing a pivotal event leading up to the revolution - the birth of Prince James Francis Edward (later known as the Old Pretender) to King James and Queen Mary Beatrice in the summer of 1688. It was the prospect of a Catholic heir to the throne that pushed many who were undecided into supporting the intervention of William. Even before the birth there were many rumors circulating that the Queen's pregnancy was a conspiracy on the part of the Catholics to ensure the birth of a Catholic heir to the throne, and the rumors became certainties for many people after a boy was born, just as many Catholics had predicted. The fact that both Mary and Anne gave credence to these rumors is the crux of Waller's portrait of them as "ungrateful daughters." Historians have long accepted that there was no truth to the rumors insinuating that the new prince was not the son of the king and queen, and Waller excoriates both Mary and Anne for doubting it and doing nothing to stop the rumors. Anne in particular is held up as the villain of the piece, and, reading Waller's account, one gets the impression that she single-handedly fomented the rumors surrounding the birth of her half brother and could have stopped the revolution in its tracks had she acted differently.

However, Waller utterly fails to take into account that the circumstances of the prince's birth were not nearly as clear in 1688 as they are with the benefit of hindsight. At the time there were plenty of suspicious circumstances for those who wanted to doubt. The very fact of the birth of a healthy son to a woman whose eight previous pregnancies either ended in miscarriage or produced sickly babies who died soon after birth was in itself suspicious. Also, the birth took place a full month earlier than was expected. Waller argues that the discrepancy was due to a mistake on the part of the royal physicians as to the date of conception, which was probably the case, although she does not explain why this should have been clear to everyone in 1688. Additionally, although the birth was witnessed by numerous people, they were all either Catholics or political allies of James, whose testimony was regarded as suspect. Notably absent, besides Anne herself, were the Dutch ambassador and Edward and Lawrence Hyde (brothers of James's first wife and thus uncles of Mary and Anne), whose testimony would have been accepted as conclusive. From the perspective of three hundred years in the future, all these things may appear insignificant next to the fact that a baby boy was born in full view of numerous witnesses. However, in the atmosphere of 1688, with the prospect of a Catholic heir who might someday decide that a re-conversion of Britain to Catholicism was preferable to toleration (just as Louis XIV had reversed his grandfather's edict giving toleration to French Protestants), the questionable aspects surrounding the birth gave plenty of material to justify doubts on the part of those who were disposed to be suspicious.

The doubts about the new prince's legitimacy did not rest upon the testimony of either Anne or her sister. Neither Anne nor Mary started the rumors, although Anne repeated them and Mary in Holland believed them. The stories were spread throughout the country by such popular press as existed at the time and many prominent political figures lent credence to them and spread them. Anne's conduct in this affair leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, but it is far from clear that she could have done anything effective to quash the rumors, even if she had wanted to. Even if she had publicly denied the rumors, there was nothing to prevent people from dismissing this as done at the behest of James. Nuance, however, has no place in this book. By portraying Anne as holding the balance of affairs in her hand and failing to accurately consider events in the context of their time, Waller gives an incomplete and distorted picture of events.

There are numerous instances throughout the book of sloppy research and assumptions presented as fact. For example, Waller claims at one point that certain letters (not written by Anne) "imply" that Anne promised her father that she would restore the throne to her brother. There is no solid evidence that Anne actually made such a promise, and Waller does not present any. However, this supposed promise becomes a major theme in the book, and Waller refers to it again and again as fact, describing certain actions of Queen Anne during her reign as violations of the promise that she made to her father - a promise that there is no proof Anne ever made. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example, but rather typical of Waller's method. Assertions are made on flimsy evidence, or no evidence at all, and thereafter referenced as fact.

The story of the Revolution of 1688 has the potential to be a compelling tale of real people living through momentous events. The two princesses who are the chief subjects of this book could be portrayed as real women who had to make difficult choices when their duty to their father came into conflict with what they saw as their duty to their faith and their country. Instead, what this book gives is a two-dimensional caricature of two women who "stole their father's crown" for no better reason than petty vindictiveness.

Compelling and informative.......2007-06-04

The Stuarts were more than a series of Scots-English monarchs, they were a contentious family filled with ambitious, egotistical, often ignoble figures who were not above slipping the knife in to advance their own careers. The generational and religious tension chronicled in this well-written true-to-life soap opera began with James II's move toward the Catholic Church, which alienated both his people and his two staunchly Protestant daughters, Mary and Anne, each of whom reigned after him. Whether Mary's husband, William of Orange, usurped the crown in the Glorious Revolution depends on your point of view, but Anne (who wasn't speaking to her older sister at the time of her early death) declared her half-brother, James ("The Old Pretender"), an outlaw -- having previously claimed, in letters to Mary, that their hated stepmother's pregnancy was a Catholic hoax and plot. Waller's narrative is compelling and enjoyable as well as informative. You can almost see a screenplay waiting to be written.

Obvious writer bias ruins interesting subject.......2006-04-18

Better books on the time period can be found. The writer distorts historical fact to fit her own agenda.

A great read........2006-02-10

I loved this book. It is well written and contains such detail that the characters truly come to life. I have many books on the Restoration and none of them describes James, Duke of York and his second wife Maria Beatrice and the "ungrateful daughters" better. Many jucy details. What they wore, how they looked, their quirks and peculiarities give a much fuller picture of the court and courtiers. This book is an easy read and would engage a reader who does not like usual history books. This does not mean it is light. It's the writing of an author who is a keen observer of the subjects.

Competent biography of the last of the Fatally Flawed Stuarts.......2006-01-20

If ever there were a family that deserved a biography like this it is the Stuarts. From the blood of Mary Queen of Scots rose a dynasty of strangely unattractive Kings and queens, culminating in the two daughters of James II. These two Queens of the stuart house, Mary II and Anne I have not had the same exposure to biography as other rulers of England, (such as Elizabeth or Victoria) and perhaps this is as much about their length of reign as anything - however they did preside over one of the most interesting periods and actions in British History. That is the deposition of their father to rule in his favour.

Waller, I thought, handled the material well, I was not disturbed by the jumps and only really noticed it in some of the reviews here. It is well written and well thought out. The unsympathetic portrayal of Anne especially can easily be explained, she was really a very unsympathetic character and her faults reminded me strongly of the George IV a century later, with a tendency to self-justification and general whininess. Something I expect you can do if you are Queen, but also perhaps a hang over from a century earlier when the annointed Ruler of the realm really did hold extraordinary powers and did not need to answer to any other power in the land apart from their own. A fundamental problem with her Grandfather who lost his head over that belief.

Over all I enjoyed it. As far as dysfunctional families go this is one interestingly flawed family, with its own bitternesses and a great deal of wealth and power at stake.

I would definitely recommend this as a good read for anyone who hasn't dipped into the period before.

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Mistress Anne
Reads like a spy thriller,even better it's all true.
Extremely dull
She's on my list of worst "historians"
Awful

Mistress Anne
Carolly Erickson
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312187475

Book Description

As Maureen Quilligan wrote in the New York Times Book Review of The First Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn "was a real victim of the sexual scandals her brilliant daughter escaped, and a subject Ms. Erickson's sensitivity to sexual and political nuance should well serve." Indeed, Carolly Erickson could have chosen no more fascinating and appropriate a subject.Alluring and profoundly enigmatic, Anne Boleyn has eluded the grasp of historians for centuries.Through her extraordinarily vivid re-creation of this most tragic chapter in all Tudor History, Carrolly Erickson gives us unprecedented insight into the singuarlity of Anne Boleyn's life, the dark and overwhelming forces that shaped her errant destiny, and the rare, tumultuous times in which she lived.

Customer Reviews:

Mistress Anne.......2007-07-13

Very well documented piece on Boleyn. Fairly neutral in presentation, as to Anne's character; etc. Entertaining, and it contains info on Henry, Mary and Elizabeth (as well as the entire host of Henrican supporting actors) that is unique to this book. In other words if you read all of Erickson's works on the Tudors, each book offers different info, as well as being historically written in an engaging way.

Reads like a spy thriller,even better it's all true........2006-11-10

this book although alot longer than the brief paragraphs i've read about Anne Boleyn,doesn't give alot of new info.One interesting interpretation presented though seems to indicate that Henry the 8th may not have wanted Anne executed but more pushed aside as he had previously done with Queen Catherine. Erickson gives a strong case that the execution of Anne may have been pushed forward by Henry's advisors who were afraid of Anne's influence over the king.It seems by this book that the Archbishop of Canterbury,Thomas Cranmer and the king's right hand man,Thomas Cromwell,wanted Anne Boleyn and her friends and family at court out of the picture(permanently). This way there would be no way the Boleyn's could reenter the picture with a bigger hand.One of the lessons of the Wars of the Roses was that too often leaving political enemies to "lick their wounds"was a certain way to lose one's head (on the block)!The Boleyn family had spent about twenty years living in the French court at Paris when relations between France and England were a scant better,Anne's father was a French diplomat for Henry the 8th.It seems the English public believed Anne had picked up some permiscuous habits during her years there and craftily used them to entice and capture Henry's heart.Whether it was true or not didn't matter,and given this Anne was off on the wrong foot right from the start.Not to mention she had supplanted the popular Queen Catharine. One slip by the Boleyn's and it wouldn't be hard to imagine the consequences,both the"man (or woman)in the street and the king's advisors against the Boleyn's from the outset.The book emphasized the family of Anne Boleyn and their rise and fall in Henry's capricious court.A dangerous place to be. Another interesting part of the book deals with how the women of the king's court would make themselves desirable to capture the men's favor.It actually seems they treated their skin with mercury and white lead to give themselves that"wasted by amours" look.Looking good for a few brief years was more important than a long life for them. Beneath all the pomp and jollity of Henry's court there were alot of corpses."Great Harry" comes off as an almost certain mean spirited alcoholic covered with a thin veneer of hospitality and hardy har-har.The Boleyn's according to what I read from Erickson's book knew the stakes they were playing and overestimated their ability to "thrive and survive". Primary sources in regard to the Boleyn's are rare,and i'll bet Henry's "buddies" had alot to do with it so we'll never know the complete story but this book is about as good as will ever be found.The assertion about Anne's lose morals by Henry were probably not true but a classic case of pointing the finger,that is three pointing back at the lecherous Henry.

Extremely dull.......2006-02-06

I have to agree with the other reviews I've read. I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. I bought it because I am interested in anything having to do with Anne Boleyn/Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I.

While there was some good factual information in this book, that's all it really was- information. The book itself was very dry and had no real substance to it. I've never read a book by this author before, so I don't know if this her usual delivery or not. But, she took what could have been an outstanding book about a very intriguing period of history and basically wasted a lot of good paper.

She's on my list of worst "historians" .......2006-01-14

I am a specialist in British Renaissance literature and history. This book made me so angry that I literally threw it at the wall--before I threw it in the trash. As others have noted, Erickson is biased and the book is full of stale anecdotes and cliches. Worse still is her nauseatingly florid writing style. I'll never read another book by this author again.

Awful.......2005-03-13

I started reading this book at the same time I was reading another biography of Anne Boleyn(eric ives) and the difference is striking. I confess that I didn't finish Carolly Erickson's attempt. That's how utterly I disliked it. This is popular history at it's lowest, full of clichés and stereotypes with Anne a sex pot on the loose in Henry VIII's England.
Do not read this book if you want to get a clear, complete and true image of Anne Boleyn.

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Anne Stuart: Queen of England
Beatrice Curtis Brown
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

1929. The story of Anne Stuart is not the history of her age. The glory and activities of her time were incomprehensible to her, while as a historical pivot she does not exist. Her sister represented all that she could have represented in the 1688 revolution. As a mother of kings, Anne might have been a factor in English history. Childless, she did not divert the stream. The author felt justified in ignoring the tremendous political movements of her time and devotes this work entirely to a narrative of Anne's personal history. Illustrated.

Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography (New Cultural Studies)

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Dry
An interesting essay

Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography (New Cultural Studies)
Leeds Barroll
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0812235746

Book Description

In the well-entrenched critical view of the Jacobean period, James I is credited with the flowering of culture in the early years of the seventeenth century. His queen, Anna of Denmark, is seen as a shadowy figure at best, a capricious and shallow one at worst. But Leeds Barroll makes a well-documented case that it was Anna who, for her own purposes, developed an alternative court and sponsored many of the other artistic ventures in one of the most productive and innovative periods of English cultural history.

Married at seventeen, Anna soon became a shrewd and powerful player in the court politics of Scotland and, later, England. Her influence can be seen in James's choices for advisors and beneficiaries of royal attention. In fact, James's and Anna's longstanding dispute over the raising of the heir, Henry, caused a major scandal of the time and was suspected as a plot against the king's safety. In order to assert her own power, Anna actually forced a miscarriage upon herself, an extraordinary event that is referred to in much unnoticed contemporary diplomatic correspondence.

An important feature of court entertainment and literary production at this time was the development of the extravagant drama known as the masque, which reached its literary peak in the works of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. Barroll argues that it was in fact Anna and not James who encouraged and staged the masques, as a way of defining both a social and political identity for the royal consort, a role that had been nonexistent under Elizabeth. Barroll's work on Anna's patronage also sets Shakespeare's company in a broader context. By writing the cultural biography of Anna of Denmark, queen of England, Leeds Barroll reestablishes the influential and distinctive role of the queen consort in early modern Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Dry.......2003-02-24

I almost gave it 2 stars but decided in all fairness it did deserve 3. After all the reason I didn't like the book is that it was very dry, a lot of facts, and Anne isn't mentioned in ways that allow you to get a lot of info on her, as herself.
However, it DOES say it's a cultural biography so my disappointment is my own fault.
I wouldn't reccomend it for anyone looking for a biography or for light reading. However if your looking for info on Anne, you'll have to make do since there are very few other resources on her.

An interesting essay.......2002-03-26

A biography of Anne of Denmark, wife of King James VI of Scotland and I of England, is hard to come by. Those who read this book expecting a conventional biography might well be disappointed.

The author points out, however, that this is not intended to be a biography, but a "cultural biography." What this amounts to is an extended essay arguing that Anne, far from being the shallow and flighty woman described by most historians, was actually an intelligent, ambitious woman determined to make her mark on the politics and the culture of her day. It is an interesting argument, if not an entirely convincing one.

Some of the arguments fall flat, such as the author's insistence that the hysterical temper tantrum that triggered a life-threatening miscarriage was an example of the queen's resolve and power. Despite the occasional jarring note, an interesting pattern does emerge, revealing Anne as something more than the frivolous queen who glorified herself with extravagent masques (allegorical plays with elaborate costumes, scenery, music and dancing.) Despite the stated focus on the "cultural biography," what I found most interesting was the political turmoil Anne managed to create during her years in Scotland.

The author makes extensive use of primary sources in the 170 page essay. The notes are interesting, but for some reason, the author declined to include a bibliography. Some might find the frequent intrusion of the author's voice to be irritating. Observations such as these abound: "I have saved for this final chapter..."; "I will be arguing..."; "It is apparent to me that..." But since this is consistent with the author's style and stated purpose, this pattern is easier to overlook than it would have been in a conventional biography.

Book Description

Through detailed historicized and interdisciplinary readings of the performances of Anna Denmark in the Scottish and English Jacobean Courts, Women on the Renaissance Stage fundamentally reassesses women's relationship to early modern performance. It investigates the staging conditions, practices, and gendering of Denmark's performances, and brings current critical theorizations of race, class, gender, space, and performance to bear on the female court of the early 17th century.

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