Historical British Royalty: Biographies and Histories

[Hereditary Thane]

It is highly unlikely that Charlotte was mulatto. She may have exhibited certain Africanesque physical features but many people outside of Africa with no mulatto genes do so even today. True one of King George's courtiers refered to her as, da old begum, but there is no evidence she had any Hindoo or African ancestry.

[rmartin345]

I have read all the history of British Royal.Its a very interesting history.The Queen Marie Antoinette of France has a very interesting biography.She was the Queen of France in which occured the well known and influential 'The french revolution'.

[Zonk]

"Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr"
by Linda Porter

A new book about the last wife of Henry VIII, the former Katharine Parr.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Although often depicted by the Victorians as a matronly nurse to an elderly king, Katherine Parr (1512–1548), according to Porter, was a stylish trendsetter of 30, sensual, confident, dynamic, exceptionally educated and cultured, and able to perform with aplomb on both an English and international stage. Born into a prominent, northern family of Yorkist sympathies, Katherine was widowed twice before marrying Henry VIII: a brief first marriage thrust her into a troubled family; her second husband, John Neville, Lord Latimer, put his life and fortune at risk when he became embroiled on the side of the rebels in the 1536 northern uprising, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Probably already in love with seasoned diplomat and soldier Sir Thomas Seymour, the king's brother-in-law, when she married Henry, the pragmatic Katherine embraced her royal role with enthusiasm. British historian Porter (The Myth of "Bloody Mary") claims Elizabeth I's education, religious beliefs, and consciousness of personal image owed much to her loving stepmother. Rich, perceptive, nuanced and creative, this first full-scale biography gives one of Britain's best but least-known queens her due. 16 pages of color illus.

If you are interested in hearing the author, please check out this page Linda Porter Reads from Katherine the Queen | VF Daily | Vanity Fair .

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[Zonk]

I will be looking to puchase this book...Katharine has always intrigued me...its a shame that she got caught in the web of Henry VIII but at least she managed to outlive him. Its also a shame that her true love Edward Seymour turned out to NOT to be worthy of her love and devotion.

[PrincessKaimi]

I am looking for historical fiction and biographies about England's first Queen Elizabeth. They can be from any era, but I'd especially appreciate recommendations about which ones you enjoyed and which are best written.

Thanks in advance.

[Humera]

I've done my share of academic research on Elizabeth I and would highly recommend David Starkey. He's brilliant. If you want a good bio, start with him.
He's an expert on the Tudors and has made several good documentaries as well.
I'm currently reading a book by him on Henry VIII's early years.

See his wikipedia entry for a list of his books and tv documentaries: David Starkey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alison Weir also has a bio on Elizabeth, check her out as well. Here's her website: Books by Alison Weir
Also, under Historical Fiction, you'll find The Lady Elizabeth, I haven't read it myself but knowing the author, I'd say its worth trying.

[Daria_S]

I own 'The Life of Elizabeth I' by Alison Weir. It's good, but a little long winded (I'm still working on it).
Amazon.com: The Life of Elizabeth I Publisher: Ballantine Books: Alison Weir: Books

[Warren]

"George VI"
by Sarah Bradford

Penguin paperback, 688 pages
published January 2011

Blurb:
George VI reigned through taxing times. Acceding to the throne upon his brother's abdication, he was immediately confronted with the turmoil in European politics leading up to the Second World War, then the War itself, followed by a period of austerity, social transformation and loss of Empire. George was unprepared for kingship, suffering from a stammer which could make public occasions very painful for him. Moreover he had grown up in the shadow of his brother, a man who had been idolized as no royal prince has been, before or since. However, as Sarah Bradford shows in this sympathetic biography, although George was not born to be king, he died a great one.

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[PrincessKaimi]

Thank you both! - you've helped me decide to start with Starkey.

Still very open to historical fiction to read alongside the bios (I'll probably pick up both of them). The book about Henry VIII sounds great too (i'm slowly working my way out of the middle ages).

[Kasumi]

Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
In Winter King, first-time historian Thomas Penn has written a definitive and accessible account of the reign of Henry VII that will alter our view not just of Henry, but of the country he dominated and corrupted, and of the dynasty he founded.
Other recent histories have delved into the dark underworld of the Tudors, finding accounts of spies and corrupt councillors, tracing the fears of the monarchs rather than their moments of glory.
Penn's work is a powerful addition to this revisionist view. As his introduction makes clear, this is not the "Tudor version" of history: the wise king who brings unity to a war-torn land. It is a far more sceptical portrait of the monarch Francis Bacon called a "dark prince".

[Warren]

"Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England"
by Thomas Penn

Published: 20/10/2011
Format: Hardback, 456 pages
ISBN-13: 9781846142024
ISBN-10: 1846142024

reviews (excerpts)

Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn - The Observer

In Winter King, first-time historian Thomas Penn has written a definitive and accessible account of the reign of Henry VII that will alter our view not just of Henry, but of the country he dominated and corrupted, and of the dynasty he founded.

The royal couple's determination to make more children to replace the one they had lost ended in tragedy, and Penn is at his most sympathetic to Henry when the wife that he married for political gain, but probably learned to love, died in childbirth. In his depiction of Elizabeth of York, the Plantagenet princess who brought popular support and Yorkist loyalties to the Tudor arriviste, Penn offers us an unusually engaging portrait. Instead of the usual picture of a passive, dominated young woman, heroically bearing children in the enemy camp, this account suggests that she was equal to her situation, and brought to the Tudor court the easy grace and informality of her parents: the glamorous Edward IV and the famously beautiful Elizabeth Woodville.

Margaret Beaufort, Henry's mother, has been neglected by historians, but in this account she is frequently glimpsed. Penn describes her nun-like appearance, her eye for household detail and discipline, and notes that whenever Henry suffered his regular illness, Lady Margaret turned up with physicians, remedies, her own bed and a barrel of her favourite wine.

Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England | Thomas Penn | Review by The Spectator

There is something of Gordon Brown in the older Henry VII: an impression of darkness, of paranoia and barely suppressed rage, not to mention the terrifying tax grabs and tormenting of enemies. But Gordon was never quite as entertaining, or frightening, as Thomas Penn’s Winter King in this brilliant mash-up of gothic horror and political biography.

The 28-year-old who won the battle of Bosworth in 1485 was a leader of some charm, even charisma, but also a damaged man, ‘infinitely suspicious’. He did not know England and was acutely aware that what had been won by the sword could as easily be lost by it. Henry had gained his victory with the support of those Yorkists who had turned against Richard III after the disappearance of Edward IV’s sons, the princes in the Tower. Henry carried out his promise to them to marry Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York, but was crowned in his own ‘right’ – and it was a ‘right’ that was often to be questioned. With the last Plantagenet – the Earl of Warwick – kept in the Tower, his enemies set up pretenders against him. For Penn a key moment is the appearance in 1491 of a young man who claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, son of Edward IV. Even Sir William Stanley, the man who had crowned Henry at Bosworth, was prepared to betray him for this boy. The pretender was executed in 1499 as Perkin Warbeck. Warwick, who had not left the Tower since childhood, was also killed. But Henry never felt safe, and the deaths of his elder son, Prince Arthur, in 1502, and his wife the following year, seemed to shut all the light out of his life.

Henry disappeared like a spider into his private apartments. There he spun a web that allowed him unprecedented control over his subjects. He described it as keeping them ‘in danger at his pleasure’. Earlier kings had bound offenders and suspects for their good behaviour on pain of paying a ‘debt’. Henry VII extended this system to the entire propertied class. Opposition was priced out of the market. Penn’s description of this Tudor tyranny is a tour de force: both scholarly and a pleasure to read, covering the breadth of the European political scene, while providing the details that allow us to feel intimately the terror at home. Hope for the future fixed on the young Prince of Wales, the future Henry VIII. He is the spring that, at last, follows the Winter King. Unlike Gordon Brown’s successor, Henry VIII inherits coffers stuffed with cash (if Henry VII was ‘led into avarice’, it was, at least, to some good purpose). The monster is dead. People rejoice. But, this being a horror story, Penn leaves us with the icy sensation of some unimaginable terror ahead.

Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England | BBC History Magazine

The Wars of the Roses continued long after Richard III’s death at Bosworth in 1485. Henry Tudor, whose claim to the throne was almost non-existent, became king solely because he was the only candidate available to challenge Richard, and although he married Edward IV’s eldest daughter, many die-hard Yorkists would never accept him. He survived plot after plot, but constant danger turned him into a paranoiac. Thomas Penn brilliantly recreates his strange, Machiavellian personality and the “sustained state of emergency” that was his reign.

His wealth came from financial expertise rather than parsimony (he spent lavishly on clothes, jewellery and building), as he had acquired a remarkable knowledge of the commodity markets. Penn shows how he made enormous profits from the illegal alum trade with the Turks, loaning money and ships to Italian merchants, and controlling the supply of alum into England – where it was in demand as a dye-fixer by clothmakers.

In attempting to found a dynasty, his elder son Arthur’s betrothal to the king and queen of Spain’s daughter was a coup for the parvenu Tudors. It was spoiled by the prince’s death and her father’s refusal to pay her dowry. Whether or not Catherine of Aragon would marry the future Henry VIII instead gives the book an extra focus. This impressive book will certainly become the definitive study of our strangest, most mysterious, king.

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[Mermaid1962]

I read this book a few years ago and can recommend it highly. As always with Sarah Bradford, the sources are well documented and the picture of the individual that emerges is balanced.

Originally Posted by Warren

"George VI"
by Sarah Bradford

Penguin paperback, 688 pages
published January 2011

Blurb:

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[Lumutqueen]

A new biography due out on February 2nd.
Elizabeth the Queen: The Woman Behind the Throne: Amazon.co.uk: Sally Bedell Smith: 9780718158651: Books

History's repeating itself: Ex-Archbishop tells of the Queen¿s 'despair' over Charles's split from Diana and love for Camilla in a revealing new biography | Mail Online

A new biography of the Queen reveals for the first time her despair over the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the Monarch’s fears that her eldest son was about to ‘throw everything away’.
In Elizabeth The Queen, by Sally Bedell Smith, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, recalls the moment that the Queen finally confronted the problems in her son’s marriage.
The Archbishop reveals she was terrified that history was about to repeat itself – that Prince Charles would give up his place in the line of succession for Camilla, just as King Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936 to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson.

[Warren]

"Elizabeth the Queen: The Woman Behind the Throne"
by Sally Bedall Smith

Pages: 688
Published: 2 February 2012
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780718158651
ISBN-10: 0718158652

Synopsis

An intimate portrait of Her Majesty the Queen

As we celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, this brand new biography of Queen Elizabeth II is the first all-round, up-close picture of one of the most fascinating, enigmatic and admired women in the world. With exclusive access to the Queen's personal letters, close friends and associates, this intimate biography is a treasure trove of fresh insights on her public persona and her private life.

Here we see Queen Elizabeth going about her daily duties, preparing for formal occasions, playing with her children at the Palace, crawling on her stomach to stalk deer, donning yellow Marigolds to wash up after Balmoral cookouts, and even changing a car wheel. Here we, at last, get to meet the leader, strategist, and diplomat; the daughter, wife, mother and grandmother - Elizabeth the Queen.

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Cover image reproduced here as promotional material.

[Grandduchess24]

This books is such a wonderful commemoration to the Queen and in time for the diamond jubilee celebrations, HM certainly is quite the character and the cover is one of my favorites of HM too!

[Baroness of Books]

One of many books coming out for the Jubilee. I just finished reading this and it's a refreshing look at HM. I agree, the front cover is just stunning and the color photos inside are lovely as well.

[Kasumi]

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion by Anne Somerset (Harper Press).
The visionary queen who made our nation - Telegraph
Poor, poor Queen Anne, with her 17 pregnancies but no surviving children. She was fat, and far from brilliant, and could rarely find the right words in conversation. Her sharp-tongued friend and enemy, Sarah Churchill, criticised her “insipid heaviness”.
Anne Somerset, always such a sympathetic historian, tells Anne’s story movingly. Without overstating the case, she concludes that the Queen was both good and wise. She was selfless: even though, because of her childlessness, the throne would pass at her death to her “unloved and distant” Hanoverian cousins. She did whatever she could for the welfare of the countries whose thrones she had inherited.
There is so much rich material in thisbook but I shall concentrate on just one thing, because it is now so topical. Dull old Anne united England and Scotland. She created Great Britain. Three centuries later, a significant minority wants to break it up.

[CarolynHarris]

Here's my review of Bedell-Smith's work

The Diamond Jubilee Book Reviews 2: Sally Bedell Smith, Elizabeth The Queen | Carolyn Harris: Royal Historian

[Duchessmary]

A great read! I would recommend this to any royal watcher!

[James VI]

Thank you all for posting reviews. I have just bought a copy of this book, the cover alone is an encouragement to those of us too young to have any memories of the Queen, as a young woman. I only hope the prose, is as enticing!!!