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Traitors Of The Tower (2010)

by Alison Weir(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0099542285 (ISBN13: 9780099542285)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Vintage

review 1: Alison Weir summarises events that led to seven executions that transpired in the Tower of London between 1483-1601. Those unfortunates covered are:1. Lord Hastings2. Queen Anne Boleyn3. Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury4. Queen Katherine Howard5. Jane Parker, Lady Rochford6. Lady Jane Grey7. Robert Devereux, Earl of EssexFour of the above were sentences to death by Henry VIII, the king notorious for lopping off heads. Of the seven, Lady Jane Grey, in my view, was the most tragic case, as she was a young woman treated badly from birth by her parents, forced to take the crown of England when she didn't want it, and because of her nine-day stint as queen she spent the rest of her short life in the Tower before her beheading. She in fact welcomed death to escape the misery... more of he life. Mary I even gave her a lifeline by promising to free her if she converted to Catholicism, but the devout Protestant that Jane was refused her chance of freedom. This is another example of a good heart whose life was wasted and cut short just because of her royal bloodline.With the possible exception of Jane Parker, and maybe Robert Devereux too, I don't believe that any of these people deserved to die for the charges placed upon them.Alison Weir has done a good job here of laying down the essential events in this short work. Again with exceptions of the two aforementioned,she evokes great sympathy for those executed, creating the terrifying atmosphere that preceded the eventual death blow - or blows in the case of poor Margaret Pole.This "quick read" was also a good read for me.
review 2: Another example of why I love, and what I think is so good with Quick Reads. Above all else thy are an opportunity to read new authors and try out different genres.I have just been introduced to Alison Weir through this non-fictional account of traitors whose lives ended abruptly in the Tower of London. She is an author and historian whose informed writing does bring history to a wider audience. These brief summaries may indeed whet one's appetite to seek out weightier volumes like "The Princes in the Tower" or "The Six Wives of Henry VIII".This book is an excellent introduction to a very 'current' author who has recently shared her own views on Hilary Mantel's comments on the Duchess of Cambridge and spoken about the significance of finding the bones of Richard III.Take a chance on a Quick Read; if you hate one you have lost nothing. But maybe, like with this Alison Weir offering for me, you can be taken into a different reality and hopefully a whole world of books with a new found love of reading. less

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