More than four hundred years ago, seven people – five of them women – were beheaded in the Tower of London. Three had been queens of England. The others were found guilty of treason. Why were such important people put to death?
Alison Weir’s gripping book tells their stories: from the former friend betrayed by a man set on being king, to the young girl killed after just nine days on the throne. Through her vivid writing, Alison Weir brings history alive.
Published 4th March 2010
75 pages
Should Read – 4 stars
Read on 24th March
So I don’t really know how I came across this but I have always had a thing for historic monarchies and the political manoeuvring and court politics. This is super short but it tells a pretty good story about the time in question with some really iconic names flown around.
I would like to point out a story within this in light of the book My Lady Jane. This actually gives a brief snapshot about the historic events surrounding this. So for those if you interested in the book or who have read it it may be cool to read about the backstory. And it was actually my favourite story out of the three I think.
I particularly like Alison Weir’s writing style. It was simple, it was about telling the facts but was written in an enticing way that made it less ‘dull’ that traditional history lectures. I have ever really been good with history due to the fact that my school system did a horrible job of discussing history out with the context of WWI and WWII. I am not a loyalist by nature, I am Scottish after all, but I do enjoy the stories about monarchies when they were in their prime. Be that British and I have seen some stuff about the Romanovs and I do find them really intriguing.
I think this did also do quite a good job of showing the brutal nature of some of the people involved and the extent that people will go to for power and to simply get their own way. I think this really does reflect on human nature and will maybe show how far (or not) that we as a species have come.
I know I tend to write longer reviews than this but man is it hard to write a lot about a 75 page book. If you have a similar interest to me then I would really recommend picking this up. It is a lot more accessible than a massive 400-500 page book about one topic. It give a small snapshot of one time period but it looks at seven different people and that tells a story.
That’s all folks!
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