Product Description

Mary Tudor was the first woman to be crowned Queen of England. Her accession, in the summer of 1553, took place against the odds and it was, in many ways, emblematic of her life. Anna Whitelock's assured, impassioned and absorbing debut tells the remarkable story of a woman who was a princess one minute, feted by the courts of Europe, and a disinherited bastard the next. It tells of her Spanish heritage, the unbreakable bond between Mary and her mother, Katherine of Aragon; of her childhood, adolescence, rivalry with her sister Elizabeth, and finally her womanhood. It explores the formative experiences that made Mary the determined and single-minded queen she became. She had fought to survive, fought to preserve her integrity and her right to hear the Catholic mass, and finally she fought for the throne. As Queen of England, Mary retained her tenacity. She married Philip of Spain against much opposition and struggled passionately to restore Catholicism, the religion to which she had remained true all her life. Yet whilst she was brave as a queen, as a woman she was dependent and prone to anxiety. In an age when marriages were made for political and diplomatic advantage, Mary married a man she truly loved but whom did not share her passion. It is this tension between Mary's dominance as queen and her tragedy as a woman that is crucial to understanding her reign. Her private traumas of phantom pregnancies, debilitating illnesses and unrequited love were played out in the public glare of the fickle Tudor court. The Mary that emerges is not the weak-willed failure of traditional narratives, but a complex figure of immense courage, determination and humanity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257469 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
`An impressive and powerful debut' -- David Starkey

About the Author
Anna Whitelock gained her PhD in History from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 2004 with a thesis on the court of Mary I. Her articles and book reviews on various aspects of Tudor history have appeared in publications including the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement and BBC History. She has taught at Cambridge University and is now a lecturer in Early Modern History at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Customer Reviews

A faithful account of Mary Tudor's life and reign

Mary Tudor seems to be eternally eclipsed by her half-sister Queen Elizabeth and her overpowering father Henry VIII. She seems to be rather her mother's daughter and the King's of Spain wife and above all the religious fanatic who burned Protestants at the stake and went down in history as "Bloody Mary".

Well, of course there is always an element of truth in it. But there is so much more to England's first ruling Queen. And this is already the first point of notice: she was the first female sovereign. Taking into account her father's desperate attempts to avoid a female succession and the general concepts of females at the time, it is remarkable.

Anna Whitelock presents a very well written and very readable biography of Queen Mary I. The short chapters help a lot. It is a faithful account of her life and reign. It is a great start if one wants to explore Mary's life. But it is not - like Linda Porter's excellent biography - a book which gives the reader a deep understanding of Mary and how she "ticked". One gets glimpses of it. No doubt, it is a good and very easy to read book, but it misses a whole dimension. So as a start it is perfect, but I am afraid here it ends.

Nice introduction...,
If you have had limited exposure to the Tudor era, this is a nice introduction to the life and reign of Mary I. It provides an accessible overview without being difficult to follow.

Those with a good grounding in Tudor era history, however, will probably find nothing new in this book. I also found that the short chapters - so thoroughly praised by other reviewers - limit the amount of information that can be imparted about the subject at hand. Thus, one has the feeling that one is merely browsing Mary's life without going into it in much depth.

In short, this is a good book for one who is just discovering Mary Tudor. Those in search of a more in depth examination should look elsewhere.

Mary Tudor
The short episode like chapters make the Mary's life into a real page turner. The book really brings the Tudor court to life, great description, so much detail from the actual sources. A truly academic book for the masses. A brilliant read. I loved it!