Summer reading recommendations for Tudor history lovers

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1. 

   A August 10, 2018 at 8:41 am

   Great video Claire! Love your videos based on books. There is a new biography of Anne of Cleves coming out in the Autumn and another of Henry VIII by Tracy Borman too! Those are added to my Xmas list haha

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2. 

   R August 10, 2018 at 8:52 pm

   Mary was not universally reviled! She didn’t execute loads of nobles and Northumberland got everything he deserved. He was an arch traitor and kept her from her crown. The majority of people involved in rebellions led by him and Jane Grey’s father were actually pardoned. I won’t be reading this one, sorry, despite the review. Eamon Duffy wrote a much more scholarly and balanced account of the Marian persecution.

   For people wanting information on the much worse Elizabethan persecution, Jessica Childs has written an excellent book.

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   1. 

      R August 10, 2018 at 9:15 pm

      Mary was not universally reviled! She didn’t execute loads of nobles and Northumberland got everything he deserved. He was an arch traitor and kept her from her crown. The majority of people involved in rebellions led by him and Jane Grey’s father were actually pardoned. I won’t be reading this one, sorry, despite the review. Eamon Duffy wrote a much more scholarly and balanced account of the Marian persecution.

      For people wanting information on the much worse Elizabethan persecution, Jessica Childs has written an excellent book.

      I would also like to say great video and list of books. I can recommend the Jasper and Owen Tudor series by Tony Riches and his Henry Tudor which is the last in the series. His last novel Mary Tudor Princess is excellent as is Samantha Wilcox Queen of Martyrs on Mary I. The King’s Witch does look intriguing, though, so maybe that one for a weekend break. I have the Susan Doran Elizabeth I and Her Circle, which is an accessible and scholarly look at those surrounding and affecting the reign of the last Tudor Queen.

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3. 

   R August 11, 2018 at 10:23 pm

   If you would like the insider information on life at the Court of King Henry Viii through his six wives, there is no better under the bed account than the dispatches of Eustace Chapuys to his master Charles V. The expert on this remarkable and detailed, if sometimes biased correspondence is Lauren Mackay. I highly recommend for a good read, under the umbrella or sheltering from storms or on a long dark night before the fire, guaranteed to keep you hooked and even entertained.

   Inside the Tudor Court: Henry Viii and His Six Wives through the writing of the Spanish Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys by Lauren Mackay on kindle, paperback and hardback. Chapuys has been accused of being biased, yet he was also very detailed and mostly reliable, honest and his care for Princess Mary and Katherine of Aragon is very touching and urgent. In many instances he is also the closest thing we have to a close source, in others he is the man of rumours, in many he is backed by other witnesses and he was a contemporary. I highly recommend.

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