Books 2012: New books for June & July

8th June – Mary I: Gender, Power, and Ceremony in the Reign of England’s First Queen (Queenship and Power) by Sarah Duncan

‘Mary I: Gender, Power, and Ceremony in the Reign of England’s First Queen explores the gender politics of the reign of Mary I of England from her coronation to her funeral and examines the ways in which the queen and her supporters used language, royal ceremonies, and images to bolster her right to rule and define her image as queen. By detailing the ways that Mary’s powers were defined as the first queen ruling in her own right, and as a married ruler with Philip of Spain as king consort, this study provides a deeper appreciation of Mary’s capabilities as an early modern queen and the importance of her precedent.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Palgrave Macmillan

Further details – Amazon.co.uk


8th June – Three Medieval Queens: Queenship and the Crown in Fourteenth-Century England (Queenship and Power) by Lisa Benz St. John

‘This innovative study looks at a previously unstudied dimension of medieval queenship, examining the ways in which three fourteenth-century English queens—Margaret of France, Isabella of France, and Philippa of Hainault—exercised power and authority. These women were consorts and dowagers for overlapping periods, creating a continuous transition from one queen to the next. It thus provides a unique perspective on normative queenly behaviour and political culture, formulating valuable insights into gender, status; the concept of the crown, and power and authority.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Palgrave Macmillan

Further details – Amazon.co.uk


22nd June – The Last Plantagenet Consorts: Gender, Genre, and Historiography, 1440-1627 (Queenship and Power) by Kavita Mudan Finn

‘An examination of fifteenth-century British queens through literature and history.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Palgrave Macmillan

Further details – Amazon.co.uk


29th June – Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham

‘Joan Dudley’s husband, the Duke of Northumberland, becomes the most powerful man in England, while Frances Grey perchs with her daughter Jane dangerously close to the throne. But when Mary Tudor asserts her own right to the crown, Frances and Joan find that the lives of their husbands and children are in mortal danger. The story of the women behind the crowning of Jane Grey, this novel is an illuminating tale of ambition gone awry.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Susan Higginbotham

Further details – Sourcebooks

Further details – Amazon.co.uk


15th July – Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s Henchmen by Patrick Coby

‘The extraordinary life of Thomas Cromwell and the real story of ‘Wolf Hall’. Thomas Cromwell, chief architect of the English Reformation served as chief minister of Henry VIII from 1531 to 1540, the most tumultuous period in Henry’s thirty-seven-year reign. Many of the momentous events of the 1530s are attributed to Cromwell’s agency, the Reformation, the dissolution of the monasteries and the fall of Henry’s second wife, the bewitching Anne Boleyn. Cromwell has been the subject of close and continuous attention for the last half century, with positive appraisal of his work and achievements by historians, this new biography shows the true face of a Machiavellian Tudor statesmans of no equal.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

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