This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Grace and I are both Tudor obsessed and can’t get enough of this period of history so when someone I went to primary school
with, Leanda de Lisle, writes a book about the Tudors I am instantly even more fascinated! This is a sort of ‘behind the scenes’ look at this magnificent and colourful dynasty. I have only read the first three chapters but am already completely absorbed as it is written more like a novel and having recently watched the TV series, The White Queen, it brings those stories together with historical accuracy and it starts at the very beginning of the Tudor dynasty with Owen Tudor and Catherine de Valois.
Leanda is clearly a master storyteller and combined with her immense research this book is a most readable history book.
REVIEWS: “A wonderfully fluent portrait of five generations… de Lisle brings an entirely fresh feel to the Tudor story, reminding us of the one thing the monarchs themselves wanted us to forget: the sheer improbability of their royal rule” (Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets The Times (Saturday Review))
“In de Lisle’s hands, this is a deeply human tale, a family tree come to vivid life, rather than a narrative of politics and power structures (Book of the Week)” (Helen Castor Sunday Telegraph)
“For those wanting a more grown-up experience of the Tudor past, there are few better places to start the Leanda de Lisle’s new study. Many have told this story before. What makes de Lisle’s account so fresh is her decision to start her “family story” not in 1485. but three generations earlier. Rarely has [this] story been told as well as here” (John Adamson Mail on Sunday)
A good gift for any friends who are also fascinated by this most colourful of historical periods.