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Her personal life riven by passion, illness and intrigue, Queen
Anne presided over some of the most momentous events in British
history. Like Antonia Fraser's life of Marie Antoinette or Amanda
Foreman's 'The Duchess', 'Queen Anne' is historical biography at
its best. In 1702, fourteen years after she helped oust her father
from his throne and deprived her newborn half-brother of his
birthright, Queen Anne inherited the crowns of England and
Scotland. Childless, despite seventeen pregnancies that had all
either ended in failure or produced heartrendingly short-lived
children, in some respects she was a pitiable figure. But against
all expectation she proved Britain's most successful Stuart ruler.
Her reign was marked by many triumphs, including union with
Scotland and glorious victories in war against France. It was also
marked by controversy: Anne's close relationship with Sarah, the
outspoken wife of the Duke of Marlborough, turned to rancor with
Sarah's startling claim of the Queen's lesbian infatuation with
another lady-in-waiting, Abigail Masham. Traditionally depicted as
a weak ruler dominated by female favourites and haunted by remorse
at having deposed her father, Queen Anne emerges as a woman whose
unshakeable commitment to duty enabled her to overcome private
tragedy and painful disabilities, and set her kingdom on the path
to greatness.
'Provides a wealth of juicy anecdotal material about five centuries
of court life' New York Times 'Naughty Knickers version of our
island story' Daily Mail
--------------------------------------------- Ladies in Waiting
chronicles the lives of famous and infamous ladies who served
royalty, casting a fresh, intimate angle on four hundred years of
monarchy. For centuries, the most beautiful, able and aristocratic
women in England competed for positions at court. Some who came to
serve were remarkable for their learning and exemplary virtue, but
others were notable for promiscuity and lack of scruple, drawn to
court by a lust for money and power. Several ladies-in-waiting
became royal mistresses, showing few qualms about betraying the
queen consorts they ostensibly served. If bedding the King was not
an option open to all, many ladies came to court in hope of finding
husbands, only to succumb to constant assaults on their virtue or
to find themselves denied permission by their sovereign to marry.
Drawing on an enormous variety of sources, Anne Somerset provides
an illuminating guide to the character, profligate or pious, of
each court. Contained within the stories of the individual women is
a consistently entertaining commentary on the manners, morals and
shifting mentality of the royal, the rich, and the prominent
throughout the centuries, resulting in social history at its most
enjoyable and vibrant.
Glitteringly detailed and engagingly written, the magisterial
Elizabeth I" "brings to vivid life the golden age of
sixteenth-century England and the uniquely fascinating monarch who
presided over it. A woman of intellect and presence, Elizabeth was
the object of extravagant adoration by her contemporaries. She
firmly believed in the divine providence of her sovereignty and
exercised supreme authority over the intrigue-laden Tudor court and
Elizabethan England at large. Brilliant, mercurial, seductive, and
maddening, an inspiration to artists and adventurers and the
subject of vicious speculation over her choice not to marry,
Elizabeth became the most powerful ruler of her time. Anne Somerset
has immortalized her in this splendidly illuminating account.
Royal scandal, set against the background of the Jacobean court,
involving love, bribery, poison, treachery and black magic - 'a
hugely enjoyable book' Daily Telegraph 'A gripping detective story
... Wonderfully dramatic ... Probably the juiciest court scandal of
the past 500 years' Daily Mail In the autumn of 1615 the Earl and
Countess of Somerset were detained on suspicion of having murdered
Sir Thomas Overbury. The arrest of these leading court figures
created a sensation. The young and beautiful Countess of Somerset
had already achieved notoriety when she divorced her first husband
in controversial circumstances. The Earl of Somerset was one of the
richest and most powerful men in the kingdom, having risen to
prominence as the male 'favourite' of James I. In a vivid,
enthralling narrative, Anne Somerset unravels these extraordinary
events. It is, at once, a story rich in passion, intrigue and
corruption and a murder mystery - for, despite the guilty verdicts,
there is much about Overbury's death that remains enigmatic. The
Overbury murder case profoundly damaged the monarchy, and
constituted the greatest court scandal in English history. 'This is
a book about murder, witchcraft, adultery, lechery, intrigue and
chicanery among the country's most powerful nobility' Time Out
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