26th March 2013 – Mary I: England’s Catholic Queen by John Edwards (Paperback)
‘The lifestory of Mary I – daughter of Henry VIII and his Spanish wife, Catherine of Aragon – is often distilled to a few dramatic episodes: her victory over the attempted coup by Lady Jane Grey, the imprisonment of her half-sister Elizabeth, the burning of Protestants, her short marriage to Philip of Spain. This original and deeply researched biography paints a far more detailed portrait of Mary and offers a fresh understanding of her religious faith and policies as well as her historical significance in England and beyond. John Edwards, a leading scholar of English and Spanish history, is the first to make full use of Continental archives in this context, especially Spanish ones, to demonstrate how Mary’s culture, Catholic faith, and politics were thoroughly Spanish. Edwards begins with Mary’s origins, follows her as she battles her increasingly erratic father, and focuses particular attention on her notorious religious policies, some of which went horribly wrong from her point of view. The book concludes with a consideration of Mary’s five-year reign and the frustrations that plagued her final years. Childless, ill, deserted by her husband, Mary died in the full knowledge that her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth would undo her religious work and, without acknowledging her sister, would reap the benefits of Mary’s achievements in government.’
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
18 April 2013 – The Reign of Mary I by Professor Robert Tittler and Judith Richards (3rd edition)
‘Until recently, the reign of Mary Tudor was generally seen as a ‘sterile interlude’ in the Tudor century, with Mary herself dismissed as ‘Bloody Mary’. Extensive research in the past several decades has overturned these assumptions in almost every respect. In this succinct and up-to-date introduction to Mary’s reign, Tittler and Richards provide new insight into the circumstances of Mary’s accession and go on to show that her reign was a lot more stable, and her regime much more competent and innovative, than once believed.
This fully revised third edition includes a diverse range of primary sources and sheds new light on a variety of topics, such as:
• The complexities of Mary’s relations with Philip of Spain
• The restoration of Catholicism
• The use of visual as well as literary means to legitimize and support Mary’s rule
• The context for the war with France.’
Further details – Amazon.co.uk
28 April 2013 – Elizabeth Woodville: Queen of England, Mother of the Princes in the Tower by David MacGibbon
‘Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, mother of Elizabeth of York and the Princes in the Tower, and grandmother of Henry VIII, has been vilified and defended in turn. Was she a cunning enchantress, an ambitious advancer of her family’s fortunes, or a courageous and tragic figure who lost husbands, brothers and sons during this turbulent period? Discover the real story of the ‘White Queen’. Born into a family of Lancastrian supporters, the exceptionally beautiful Elizabeth captured the heart of the young Yorkist king, Edward IV, and found herself caught in the complex web of rivalries, loves and conspiracies that lay at the heart of the Wars of the Roses. She would wield immense influence as queen, watch her brother-in-law confine her sons to the Tower of London to face an unknown fate, and ultimately unite the Houses of Lancaster and York through the marriage of her daughter to Henry Tudor.’
