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Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery (2009)

by Eric Ives(Favorite Author)

4.01 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1405194138 (ISBN13: 9781405194136)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

review 1: This is not a biography of Lady Jane Grey, declared queen of England in 1553. The title is somewhat confusing - what is the real 'mystery' of 1553? The fact that Lady Jane, a descendant of Henry VII, somehow become England's first queen regnant in the summer of 1553? The fact that Mary Tudor successfully defeated her? Or is Lady Jane herself the 'mystery'? Because she died at sixteen and lived the majority of her life in obscurity, she is something of an enigma.Ives writes elegantly, thoughtfully, and well - this book will be accessible to general readers as well as academic enough to suit scholars. He argues very persuasively that it was Edward VI, not the duke of Northumberland, who masterminded the 'deuise for the succession' months before the teenage king's death. Edwa... morerd was determined not only for a Protestant heir to follow him, but to prevent both his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from inheriting the throne, because he regarded both as illegitimate. Following Henry VIII's will, the throne, by rights, descended to the heirs of Jane Grey.Ives' theories about Northumberland, in particular his psychology, are excellent and thought-provoking, and very much dispel the accepted belief that he was plotting and scheming for his family to attain the throne. Ives also rebuts the notion that Jane Grey's parents were vicious bullies who forced their unwilling daughter to become queen. Much less convincing is his suggestion that Northumberland only supported Edward and the change of succession in the summer of 1553 because of loyalty to the dead king. The fact that his son Guildford, by virtue of his marriage to Jane, stood to become king consort surely indicates that the traditional view of Northumberland being motivated by his own ambition is probably the correct one.A minor problem is Ives' failure to stick to one name when referring to someone - Northumberland is variously referred to as Northumberland, Warwick, Dudley, even Lisle; and this can become confusing. There are also some errors in relation to dates and individuals' ages. More thorough editing could have prevented these slips. All in all a very thorough and thought-provoking study of the succession crisis of 1553. As Ives rightly notes, Jane was England's rightful queen and Mary Tudor was, in fact, the usurper. The chapter entitled 'Afterlife' is excellent in conveying how 'Jane Grey' has become a construct, encompassing Jane as victim, Protestant martyr, teenage heroine, feminist, etc. Perhaps disappointingly, we learn little about Jane herself, although because of her young age and her obscure childhood this is unsurprising. The conclusion, in drawing links to Anne Frank, is very moving.
review 2: The book took me to a particular era to live events and actions that happened in a place and between un-ordinary characters. To question the truth behind the royal family and to witness the evil and the deceit of people in power. Also to question history itself and to put the reader in a position of disbelief and even sometimes the reader find himself lost and confused between what he reads and what things are. less

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