Nicola Tallis

Expected to be a boy, Elizabeth was a disappointment to her father on birth. Her mother was accused of much and executed and Elizabeth pronounced a bastard before the age of three. Until her late teens, Elizabeth was not really a credible candidate for the throne as her illegitimacy and then her religion stood against her. Potentially abused by her guardian's husband and used as a pawn by many powerful men, this intelligent girl learned to politic to survive.
Usually a biography of Elizabeth I skips lightly over her formative years with huge gaps during her childhood, here Tallis has chosen to focus on the life of the monarch before her coronation and a really excellent book it is. The meticulous research really fills in a lot of gaps and outlines the psychological influences on the actions during the actual reign. Relationships are explored and there is a genuine empathy for the difficult situations a vulnerable girl finds herself in.… (mehr)

This is a very readable and well researched biography of one of the most important female figures of late Medieval English history, mother of the first Tudor king Henry VII and indeed at times, almost his deputy, especially after the death of Henry's wife Elizabeth of York in childbirth in 1503. Later, slightly outliving her son who died in 1509, she was also unofficial regent to her grandson Henry VIII during the first two months of his reign until he came of age and married his brother's widow Katherine of Aragon. The book of course covers the political and military events of the Wars of the Roses and subsequent events, but also brings across clearly Margaret's intense devotion to her son's interests. Giving birth to him before her fourteenth birthday - extremely young even for the time - and largely perforce separated from him during his childhood and adolescence, she was utterly devoted to him throughout the whole of his life, both as exiled pretender and later as king. Henry's father Edmund Tudor died before he was born, and Margaret's subsequent marriages were made with the view of attaining security for herself as well as protection of her son's interests. The book also brings across Margaret's religious devotion, and her charitable and educational work, in which she took a personal interest and role which exceeded that of the merely conventional royal patronage of the age - she was the founder of Christ's and St John's Colleges, Cambridge.… (mehr)

An excellent exploration of the political, religious, and social forces which led to Lady Jane Grey being named Queen of England and then deposed thirteen days later.

One of the primary strengths of the book is many documents which Tallis cites to build her portrait. She does an excellent job of explaining who wrote the document, what the probable biases of the authors were, and whether or not they can be considered reliable. At the same time, the weakness of the book is Tallis's frequent use of words like "undoubtedly" when she is speculating on undocumented events or the feelings of historical figures.… (mehr)