The riveting inside story of the Elizabethan Court and the favoured women who tended the Queen
The riveting inside story of the Elizabethan Court and the favoured women who tended the Queen
Anna Whitelock's bestselling debut, Mary Tudor: England's First Queen, was published to critical acclaim in 2009. She is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at Royal Holloway, University of London. She regular appears on television and radio and has written for the Guardian, BBC History, Sunday Telegraph and the New York Times. She lives in Cambridge. @AnnaWhitelock www.annawhitelock.co.uk
Elizabeth, subtle and seductive, was also a warrior.
Self-possessed, she was also owned by every gossip in Europe. Her
virginity was a national asset, but a wasting asset as her reign
progressed. Her body was the body politic, closely guarded but
obscenely scrutinised, subject to adoration, speculation and
threat. Anna Whitelock’s skilful and detailed history will bring
you closer than seems possible to this glittering, infuriating,
fascinating woman
*Hilary Mantel*
With the lively imagination of a dramatist and the rigor of an
academic, Whitelock discards the chastity belt of conventional
royal history and presents Elizabeth in terms of the intimate
politics of her life
*The Times*
Whitelock’s fearless approach to Elizabeth is not like that of
Essex. She, too, has burst into the bedroom and shown us the Queen
in her most private state. This is an intimate history of the court
and a brilliant history of intimacy
*Frances Wilson, Mail on Sunday*
Whitelock brings a fresh eye to the significance of anecdotes and,
in doing so, injects them with new life ... With this dazzling
portrait of Mary’s successor, she takes her place among the
foremost – and most enthrallingly readable – historians of the
Tudors
*Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times*
A great story, told with wit and verve
*John Gallagher, Sunday Telegraph*
An impressive and powerful debut
*David Starkey on Mary Tudor*
Whitelock excels in her timely portrait of a religious fanatic
*Frances Wilson, Sunday Times Books of the Year*
***** Anna Whitelock's greatest achievement is her portrait of Mary
as a woman as well as a Queen ... complex and compelling
*Anita Sethi, Independent*
Brilliant
*Jenny Uglow, Financial Times*
A memorable portrait
*Literary Review*
Dazzling and fresh
*Sunday Times Summer Reads*
The fascinating story of England’s first successful queen told from
a unique perspective
*Good Book Guide*
It’s a rollicking introduction to a remarkable woman, who lived in
a very weird world
*The Times, Summer Reads*
Essentially a biography of Elizabeth I with a special concern for
the Queen’s relationship with her male favourites and the various
marriage negotiations that dominated England’s external relations
until at least the early 1580s ... Gradually she won me over,
principally by her very skilful use of contemporary quotations, and
since much of the contemporary comment was extremely lively, the
book became a very good read ... A readable and well-documented
biography
*Times Higher Supplement*
Anna Whitelock demonstrates that the ladies of the bedchamber
exercised considerable power and influence in their abilities both
to make suggestions to the Queen and to report on her private
thoughts ... Some of the best parts are the material details of
Elizabeth’s domestic surroundings ... In places the book offers
fascinating glimpses of Elizabeth I’s life behind closed doors, and
is enriched by Anna Whitelock’s eye for the curious and engaging
detail ... This is partly a book about gossip, and it is in these
kinds of gossipy and flavoursome morsels that its chief insights
and pleasures lie
*TLS*
It’s a great story, told with wit and verve
*Sunday Telegraph*
One cannot fault Whitelock for her meticulous research
*Independent on Sunday*
Whitelock makes sparkling use of the eye-witness testimonies of
courtiers, who recorded their impressions of the Queen
*Daily Mail*
A memorable portrait, though not one that unquestioning admirers of
the Virgin Queen may find palatable
*Literary Review*
The first Queen Elizabeth is examined again in this revelatory
book, which seeks out the private woman behind the public image
*Independent Best Winter Reads*
Fresh insightful analysis to a more general history of Elizabeth’s
reign ... Whitelock has skilfully pulled together a wealth of
evidence, and the intimate parts of this study are wonderful
*Tablet*
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