Leanda De Lisle Livres

Sunday Times bestseller A Telegraph Book of the Year A History Today Book of the Year A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year The Tudors are a national obsession; they are our most notorious family in history. But beyond the well-worn headlines is a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew. The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family's obscure Welsh origins; it passes by the courage of the pregnant thirteen-year-old girl who would help found the Tudor dynasty; and the childhood and painful exile of her son, the future Henry VII. It ignores the fact that the Tudors were shaped by their past - those parts they wished to remember and those they wished to forget. With this background, Leanda de Lisle enables us to see the Tudors in their own terms and presents new perspectives and revelations on key figures and events, from the princes in the Tower to the Tudor Queens. Tudor tells a family story like no other.

`Leanda de Lisle brings the story of nine days' queen, Lady Jane Grey and her forgotten sisters, the rivals of Elizabeth I, to vivid life in her fascinating biography' Philippa Gregory The dramatic untold story of the three tragic Grey sisters, all heirs to the Tudor throne, all victims to their royal blood.

Winner of the HWA Crown for Best Work of Historical Non-Fiction 2018Times Book of the YearLess than forty years after the golden age of Elizabeth I, England was at war with itself.

"Henrietta Maria, Charles I's queen, is the most reviled consort to have worn the crown of Britain's three kingdoms. Condemned as that 'Popish brat of France', a 'notorious whore' and traitor, she remains in popular memory the wife who wore the breeches and turned her husband Catholic - so causing a civil war - and a cruel and bigoted mother. Leanda de Lisle's White King was hailed as 'the definitive modern biography about Charles I' (Observer). Here she considers Henrietta Maria's point of view, unpicking the myths to reveal a very different queen. We meet a new bride who enjoyed annoying her uptight husband, a leader of fashion in clothes and cultural matters, an innovative builder and gardener and an advocate of the female voice in public affairs. No bigot, her closest friends included 'Puritans' as well as Catholics, and she led the anti-Spanish faction at court linked to the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years' War. When civil war came, the strategic planning and fundraising of his 'She Generalissimo' proved crucial to Charles's campaign. The story takes us to courts across Europe, and looks at the fate of Henrietta Maria's mother and sisters, who also faced civil wars. Her estrangement from her son Henry is explained, and the image of the Restoration queen as an irrelevant crone is replaced with Henrietta Maria as an influential 'phoenix queen', presiding over a court with 'more mirth' even than that of the Merry Monarch, Charles II"--Publisher's description

Many volumes have been written about the reign of Elizabeth I; this book focuses on the critical year her reign ended, when England lost its childless queen and a Machiavellian struggle ensued to find her successor. December 1602: The formidable ruler has become a dithering old woman. The kingdom has been weakened by the cost of war with Spain and the simmering discontent of both the rich and the poor. Elizabeth's senior relative, James VI of Scotland, is a foreigner and a Stuart, excluded from the throne under English law. Around the old queen and the new king swirl a cast of unforgettable characters. We witness the scheming of courtiers for the candidates of their choice, and the widespread fear that civil war, invasion, or revolution will follow the monarch's death; and we are given intimate insights into political power plays and psychological portraits relevant to our own era.--From publisher description