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The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots: Elizabeth I and Her Greatest Rival
From the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Queen Victoria , a new history of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I that reveals how the most important relationship of their life—their friendship—changed them forever.
Elizabeth and Mary were cousins and queens, but eventually it became impossible for them to live together in the same world.This is the story of two women struggling for supremacy in a man’s world, when no one thought a woman could govern. They both had to negotiate with men—those who wanted their power and those who wanted their bodies—who were determined to best them. In their worlds, female friendship and alliances were unheard of, but for many years theirs was the only friendship that endured. They were as fascinated by each other as lovers; until they became enemies. Enemies so angry and broken that one of them had to die, and so Elizabeth ordered the execution of Mary.But first they were each other’s lone female friends in a violent man’s world. Their relationship was one of love, affection, jealousy, antipathy – and finally death. This book tells the story of Mary and Elizabeth as never before, focusing on their emotions and probing deeply into their intimate lives as women and queens.They loved each other, they hated each other—and in the end they could never escape each other.
Elizabeth and Mary were cousins and queens, but eventually it became impossible for them to live together in the same world.This is the story of two women struggling for supremacy in a man’s world, when no one thought a woman could govern. They both had to negotiate with men—those who wanted their power and those who wanted their bodies—who were determined to best them. In their worlds, female friendship and alliances were unheard of, but for many years theirs was the only friendship that endured. They were as fascinated by each other as lovers; until they became enemies. Enemies so angry and broken that one of them had to die, and so Elizabeth ordered the execution of Mary.But first they were each other’s lone female friends in a violent man’s world. Their relationship was one of love, affection, jealousy, antipathy – and finally death. This book tells the story of Mary and Elizabeth as never before, focusing on their emotions and probing deeply into their intimate lives as women and queens.They loved each other, they hated each other—and in the end they could never escape each other.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published August 23, 2018
180 people are currently reading
2137 people want to read
About the author
Kate Williams
59 books583 followersHello! Thank you for visiting my page. It's a great privilege to be on here - and to say hi to readers. Thank you very much for all your support and interest in my books! My twitter account is @katewilliamsme and I have a facebook page for Kate Williams author, come and say hello! I'm always thrilled to hear from you and your thoughts about my work.
I grew up in a very modern house in a dormitory village in the Midlands- and as a consequence became completely obsessed by the past. When I was about six, we got a new washing machine - and I took the huge cardboard box, covered it in silver foil and told my little brother it was a time machine. I used to rumble it about and tell him 'Look! We're in Egypt in the time of the pyramids - but you can't get out!' So he had to listen to all the stories inside, my poor brother...
'One of Britain's best young historians', Independent.
'Historian Extraordinaire', The Today Programme, Radio 4
'Queen of historical fiction' and 'History at its best', Guardian
'Unforgettable', (the book, not me!), The Lady.
'Gripping, seductive', The Times
I'm still looking for that time machine - and still living in it, really as I am obsessed by history.
Thanks so much for coming with me in my time machine.....
My latest novel, Edge of the Fall, is about the DeWitt family in the 1920s as they try to make sense of their lives in the aftermath of the war. It's the Flapper Age - and everything is in flux. As Kirkus puts it, there is ' a beautiful socialite threatened by a stranger, a murder trial and a baby born out of wedlock' - 'strange disappearances, unexplained deaths, dramatic births and a juicy court case' Grazia
'Brilliant', Daily Mail
'Gripping from the first page', 'Thrilling' 'a must read', Grazia
'Imbued with a sharp awarenss of the devastating effects of war in any era, Williams' novel presents sympathetic characters who transcend history', Kirkus
My previous novel, The Storms of War, is the first in a trilogy about the de Witt family. The first explores their lives from 1914-1918, as the youngest girl, Celia, sees her perfect world crumble and change. I've wanted to write about the wars since I visited the trenches in France when I was ten on a school trip. I was fascinated by how small they were - and how men could ever live in such places. I really wanted to go into the lives of Germans - the Victorians couldn't get enough of them. Then - almost overnight - they were the enemy and people saw German spies everywhere and the newspapers demanded that all Germans in the country be imprisoned. At the beginning of the book, Rudolf and Verena have four children - and their lives will never be the same again.
'Quietly impressive...hard to put down....Gripping, thoughtful, heartbreaking and above all human', Kirkus (starred review)
'truly affecting...richly detailed, light of foot..tantalises with loose ends and disturbs with shocking shadows', Independent
'Fans of Dowton Abbey will love it, as do I', Alison Weir
'Vivid....fascinating,' Observer
My most recent history book was in 2013, Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon (UK) and 'Ambition and Desire: the Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte' (US). It has been optioned by Ecosse Films (Nowhere Boy, Mrs Brown) and they are working on the script now.
'I send you a thousand kisses, but send me none back because they set my soul on fire', wrote Napoleon to Josephine.
In 2012, my book about Elizabeth II, 'Young Elizabeth' was published, exploring the Princess's life before she became Queen - and how the abdication of Edward VIII changed her world. In 2011, I co-wrote The Ring and the Crown with Alison Weir, Tracy Borman and Sarah Gristwood about the history of royal weddings.
My previous novel,The Pleasures of Men, about Catherine Sorgeiul, a young woman in 1840 who terrifies herself with her obsession with a murderer, appeared in 2012. I began writing the book while living in Paris, one
I grew up in a very modern house in a dormitory village in the Midlands- and as a consequence became completely obsessed by the past. When I was about six, we got a new washing machine - and I took the huge cardboard box, covered it in silver foil and told my little brother it was a time machine. I used to rumble it about and tell him 'Look! We're in Egypt in the time of the pyramids - but you can't get out!' So he had to listen to all the stories inside, my poor brother...
'One of Britain's best young historians', Independent.
'Historian Extraordinaire', The Today Programme, Radio 4
'Queen of historical fiction' and 'History at its best', Guardian
'Unforgettable', (the book, not me!), The Lady.
'Gripping, seductive', The Times
I'm still looking for that time machine - and still living in it, really as I am obsessed by history.
Thanks so much for coming with me in my time machine.....
My latest novel, Edge of the Fall, is about the DeWitt family in the 1920s as they try to make sense of their lives in the aftermath of the war. It's the Flapper Age - and everything is in flux. As Kirkus puts it, there is ' a beautiful socialite threatened by a stranger, a murder trial and a baby born out of wedlock' - 'strange disappearances, unexplained deaths, dramatic births and a juicy court case' Grazia
'Brilliant', Daily Mail
'Gripping from the first page', 'Thrilling' 'a must read', Grazia
'Imbued with a sharp awarenss of the devastating effects of war in any era, Williams' novel presents sympathetic characters who transcend history', Kirkus
My previous novel, The Storms of War, is the first in a trilogy about the de Witt family. The first explores their lives from 1914-1918, as the youngest girl, Celia, sees her perfect world crumble and change. I've wanted to write about the wars since I visited the trenches in France when I was ten on a school trip. I was fascinated by how small they were - and how men could ever live in such places. I really wanted to go into the lives of Germans - the Victorians couldn't get enough of them. Then - almost overnight - they were the enemy and people saw German spies everywhere and the newspapers demanded that all Germans in the country be imprisoned. At the beginning of the book, Rudolf and Verena have four children - and their lives will never be the same again.
'Quietly impressive...hard to put down....Gripping, thoughtful, heartbreaking and above all human', Kirkus (starred review)
'truly affecting...richly detailed, light of foot..tantalises with loose ends and disturbs with shocking shadows', Independent
'Fans of Dowton Abbey will love it, as do I', Alison Weir
'Vivid....fascinating,' Observer
My most recent history book was in 2013, Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon (UK) and 'Ambition and Desire: the Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte' (US). It has been optioned by Ecosse Films (Nowhere Boy, Mrs Brown) and they are working on the script now.
'I send you a thousand kisses, but send me none back because they set my soul on fire', wrote Napoleon to Josephine.
In 2012, my book about Elizabeth II, 'Young Elizabeth' was published, exploring the Princess's life before she became Queen - and how the abdication of Edward VIII changed her world. In 2011, I co-wrote The Ring and the Crown with Alison Weir, Tracy Borman and Sarah Gristwood about the history of royal weddings.
My previous novel,The Pleasures of Men, about Catherine Sorgeiul, a young woman in 1840 who terrifies herself with her obsession with a murderer, appeared in 2012. I began writing the book while living in Paris, one
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
January 22, 2019
What a fascinating insight to Mary’s life, reign, and eventual execution. The only complaint I have is that based on its title, one would think Elizabeth was entirely responsible for Mary’s horrific treatment and eventual downfall; that simply isn’t the full truth, and the text itself backs this up. Both Mary and Elizabeth were manipulated, mind and body, by the men around them. Mary married two idiots, and Elizabeth never married at all. Both these choices were used against both queens. Neither of their inner circles were ever truly pleased no matter what they did. I enjoyed most the commentary on the royal body, especially the female body, and its continual invasion by ambitious, misogynistic men. UGH! Men. Queens forever.
May 30, 2019
Royal children were bargaining chips. Kate Williams demonstrates how Mary, who was crowned Queen of Scotland at age 9 months, was used as a bargaining chip her entire life. Her position was more important than her person and her sheltered background and prepared her for court life, not the exercise of authority.
Williams begins with the childhoods of Mary and Elizabeth. Both were buffeted by forces beyond their ken or control. To protect her from English invasions and machinations of the Protestant nobles, the young Mary was moved about Scotland and at age 6 was sent in care of staff on a dangerous voyage. Upon arrival in France (I was not aware that) Mary’s 4 companions were considered uncouth and were sent to a convent. Mary was gently raised in the French royal nursery learning French, Latin, embroidery, music and dancing. She was instilled with a strong sense of royal entitlement and naively expected all to recognize it. Her brief marriage to Francis was the only time she was not alone.
Elizabeth slowly became aware that her father, who visited her from time to time, had had her mother beheaded. While also alone, she was able to bond with some of her caretakers. She was educated by England’s the best tutors. Through the Thomas Seymour affair and Protestant attempts to enlist her, she learned diplomacy and not to trust wolves in sheep’s clothing. Her country was larger, wealthier, mightier and more stable than Mary’s.
Williams shows how Mary’s return to Scotland was a jump from the frying pan (under the de facto rule of Catherine d’Medici) into the fire (the Treaty of Edinburgh put Protestant nobles in control). It was a set up for failure. Mary, a 23 year old orphan and widow, was a Catholic monarch in a country where the increasingly Protestant ruling class had circumvented monarchical authority while her mother served as regent for her. A man would find this difficult. Anti-female attitudes spread by reform leader John Knox added to the implausibility.
The story is told story with emphasis on the many betrayals. Mary’s two husbands were most deceitful and her half brother is just as bad. Her French family was of no help and Elizabeth played a passive-aggressive role while following her hard-line adviser William Cecil. Cecil’s hand is everywhere from the Casket Letters to the spy network that set up the treason sting.
There is detail, some new to me, on the Leicester marriage proposal and Bothwell’s poor treatment of Mary (besides the rape). You see how Mary’s imprisonment was at times a luxury retreat, she was served 12 dishes at a meal, often had 30 attendants (one attendant had an attendant) and was able to send Elizabeth expensive gifts from France.
The author’s conclusion is well reasoned and well written. Elizabeth was right… once a monarch was killed, it would open the doors for others.
While Tudor readers know this story, this is still not to be missed. Its emphasis on the betrayals and some of the new information give the reader new perspectives on the incredible life of Mary Queen of Scots.
Williams begins with the childhoods of Mary and Elizabeth. Both were buffeted by forces beyond their ken or control. To protect her from English invasions and machinations of the Protestant nobles, the young Mary was moved about Scotland and at age 6 was sent in care of staff on a dangerous voyage. Upon arrival in France (I was not aware that) Mary’s 4 companions were considered uncouth and were sent to a convent. Mary was gently raised in the French royal nursery learning French, Latin, embroidery, music and dancing. She was instilled with a strong sense of royal entitlement and naively expected all to recognize it. Her brief marriage to Francis was the only time she was not alone.
Elizabeth slowly became aware that her father, who visited her from time to time, had had her mother beheaded. While also alone, she was able to bond with some of her caretakers. She was educated by England’s the best tutors. Through the Thomas Seymour affair and Protestant attempts to enlist her, she learned diplomacy and not to trust wolves in sheep’s clothing. Her country was larger, wealthier, mightier and more stable than Mary’s.
Williams shows how Mary’s return to Scotland was a jump from the frying pan (under the de facto rule of Catherine d’Medici) into the fire (the Treaty of Edinburgh put Protestant nobles in control). It was a set up for failure. Mary, a 23 year old orphan and widow, was a Catholic monarch in a country where the increasingly Protestant ruling class had circumvented monarchical authority while her mother served as regent for her. A man would find this difficult. Anti-female attitudes spread by reform leader John Knox added to the implausibility.
The story is told story with emphasis on the many betrayals. Mary’s two husbands were most deceitful and her half brother is just as bad. Her French family was of no help and Elizabeth played a passive-aggressive role while following her hard-line adviser William Cecil. Cecil’s hand is everywhere from the Casket Letters to the spy network that set up the treason sting.
There is detail, some new to me, on the Leicester marriage proposal and Bothwell’s poor treatment of Mary (besides the rape). You see how Mary’s imprisonment was at times a luxury retreat, she was served 12 dishes at a meal, often had 30 attendants (one attendant had an attendant) and was able to send Elizabeth expensive gifts from France.
The author’s conclusion is well reasoned and well written. Elizabeth was right… once a monarch was killed, it would open the doors for others.
While Tudor readers know this story, this is still not to be missed. Its emphasis on the betrayals and some of the new information give the reader new perspectives on the incredible life of Mary Queen of Scots.
March 23, 2022
A beautiful queen a tragic life. What if king Francis had lived? What if Mary de guise had lived to old age? What if queen Mary and queen Elizabeth had met? These and so many mire what if’s in queen Mary’s life. If she had just made one different decision how her life might have been different. Was she ever happy? I hope so. As a child she had a wonderful childhood in glorious France but in Scotland totally different. The 2 husbands she had in Scotland so disastrous. She didn’t even get to enjoy motherhood. No one gave her a chance to be a great queen yet she is remembered to this day. At least her son reburied her so he must have had some fond memories of her even though he rejected her in life. I so wish she had had a chance to rule. She was beautiful and I think kind with a good heart. She was faithful to the people she loved. She is my many times great grandma and I am proud she is. This book profiles Mary’s life ant the people who influenced her life good and bad. The one major fact of Mary’s life was meeting queen Elizabeth. She never did but she always held the hope she would. During her confinement she held the hope of meeting Elizabeth. All the events of Mary’s life affected Elizabeth. The people in Mary’s life in Scotland were trying to overthrow her. She had a few faithful who loved her. A good recounting of all if Mary from beginning to the end.
June 4, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this book. Reading it as part of my research for my own book puts a different perspective on it, I'm realising. I focus more on the sections that I myself am writing about rather than the overall work.
However, the book as a whole was very cohesive and explored the deep and complicated relationship between the two female monarchs, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, which lasted across decades although the two never met in person. It is an intriguing and at times convoluted relationship which does require a lot of explanation at points, especially regarding the rebellions which surrounded Mary and impacted Elizabeth greatly.
Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots come across as women in the their own right, not just as queens, who had their own wants, hopes, dreams, thoughts and feelings. Sometimes historical biographies can treat their subjects as objects rather than living people (or dead people now, but who were living, to be more precise). Kate Williams didn't fall into that trap with her retelling of the relationship between the two.
It is thoroughly well-researched and cited, and I must thank Kate for her excellent research which has pointed me to several other sources which I can use myself. One of the best and most interesting books about the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots you'll ever read.
However, the book as a whole was very cohesive and explored the deep and complicated relationship between the two female monarchs, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, which lasted across decades although the two never met in person. It is an intriguing and at times convoluted relationship which does require a lot of explanation at points, especially regarding the rebellions which surrounded Mary and impacted Elizabeth greatly.
Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots come across as women in the their own right, not just as queens, who had their own wants, hopes, dreams, thoughts and feelings. Sometimes historical biographies can treat their subjects as objects rather than living people (or dead people now, but who were living, to be more precise). Kate Williams didn't fall into that trap with her retelling of the relationship between the two.
It is thoroughly well-researched and cited, and I must thank Kate for her excellent research which has pointed me to several other sources which I can use myself. One of the best and most interesting books about the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots you'll ever read.
January 25, 2019
This is a difficult book to evaluate. It is very well-written and Williams has done lots of research, as exemplified in her detailed footnotes and bibliography at the back of the book. The difficulty facing any historian of the endlessly fascinating relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots is the fact that it's a very well-trodden path. There have been plenty of biographies of both queens and several books devoted to their relationship, including those by Alison Plowden and Jane Dunn. While Williams offers an intensively-researched and gripping read, she doesn't offer much that is new to the field, and I thought Dunn offered a more exhaustive and intriguing account of the Elizabeth-Mary relationship.
What is perhaps most strange about the book is that, while there is considerable research, there is also a lot of speculation without any footnotes. Anyone who has read widely in the sixteenth-century will immediately spot questionable claims such as: Mary Tudor attending the birth of her half-sister Elizabeth in 1533 (she didn't); the baby Elizabeth allegedly resting on a golden cushion at court (this is a claim put forward by historians such as Borman and Weir, and I have yet to see a contemporary source to prove it); Henry VIII doubted Anne Boleyn's virginity and viewed her as a witch (claims put forward by Weir that have been questioned by other historians); and even the invented suggestions that Anne followed Henry VIII around, while also physically attacking him and Jane Seymour! I don't know where either of these claims come from but, while entertaining, they are not backed up by the historical record.
If you are fascinated by Elizabeth, Mary and their ultimately fatal relationship with one another, then certainly I would recommend reading this book. It's engagingly written, well-researched and has much to recommend it. However, I don't think it offers anything new to the field.
What is perhaps most strange about the book is that, while there is considerable research, there is also a lot of speculation without any footnotes. Anyone who has read widely in the sixteenth-century will immediately spot questionable claims such as: Mary Tudor attending the birth of her half-sister Elizabeth in 1533 (she didn't); the baby Elizabeth allegedly resting on a golden cushion at court (this is a claim put forward by historians such as Borman and Weir, and I have yet to see a contemporary source to prove it); Henry VIII doubted Anne Boleyn's virginity and viewed her as a witch (claims put forward by Weir that have been questioned by other historians); and even the invented suggestions that Anne followed Henry VIII around, while also physically attacking him and Jane Seymour! I don't know where either of these claims come from but, while entertaining, they are not backed up by the historical record.
If you are fascinated by Elizabeth, Mary and their ultimately fatal relationship with one another, then certainly I would recommend reading this book. It's engagingly written, well-researched and has much to recommend it. However, I don't think it offers anything new to the field.
December 29, 2022
Perhaps it’s my Irish heritage. Perhaps it’s my firm belief in the imperfect political system the United States came up with. But I just never can get into Royal Persona stories. They are excruciatingly dull people with conniving underlings, whose power plays elicit little more than a yawn from me. But my wife loves them, and after she followed an excellent podcast call “Rex Factor” that rates the kings and queens of yore, I decided to give this a chance. I’m aware of the two major players here, Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots. I’m aware that Mary met a tragic end. Let’s give it a go.
Williams declares her intention to reframe Mary Queen of Scots as a wronged tragic figure, undone by the terrible men in her life. Of course, this is partly true. But reading Williams’ telling of Mary, she’s mostly undone by her own terrible decision making. She’s not so much a tragic figure as a person ill-trained and ill-suited for the role she was thrust into. She was doomed from the very start, which makes for a very uninteresting read.
Since I’m no expert on the history of Kings and Queens beyond what they subjected Ireland to (so they’re all villains to me), I cannot say if it’s the story of Mary or if it’s Williams’ telling. I will say that no matter the cause, this book did nothing to engage my interest. Barely finished.
Williams declares her intention to reframe Mary Queen of Scots as a wronged tragic figure, undone by the terrible men in her life. Of course, this is partly true. But reading Williams’ telling of Mary, she’s mostly undone by her own terrible decision making. She’s not so much a tragic figure as a person ill-trained and ill-suited for the role she was thrust into. She was doomed from the very start, which makes for a very uninteresting read.
Since I’m no expert on the history of Kings and Queens beyond what they subjected Ireland to (so they’re all villains to me), I cannot say if it’s the story of Mary or if it’s Williams’ telling. I will say that no matter the cause, this book did nothing to engage my interest. Barely finished.
August 22, 2019
Williams looks at the relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots with particular devotion to Mary's life and reign. I find these two women fascinating and this was an intriguing biography. Most thrilled to find a mention of my town and a piece of information I wasn't aware of before.
March 19, 2019
The best thing about 'Rival Queens' is how sympathetic it is to Mary, Queen of Scots and the worst thing about 'Rival Queens' is how sympathetic it is to Mary, Queen of Scots. The author, Kate Williams, is clearly in the Mary camp and believes she was used and abused all her life by terrible men, beginning with her father and ending with the executioner, and is therefore essentially a victim of a kind of 16th century #MeToo movement. I certainly sympathise with Mary as well but not to the same extent. Mary was an intelligent, cultured, educated woman whose own bad judgement proved her undoing, especially in regards to Darnley, his murder (which Williams makes a strong defence of Mary's alleged role in) and her flight to England after everything collapsed in Scotland. Elizabeth Tudor, the 'rival queen', was never going to welcome her luckless cousin and it all ended in horrific bloodshed, which was excellently portrayed by Kate Williams.
I think this book is strictly for fans of Mary Stuart. Elizabeth I doesn't play much of a part, and neither do key figures such as Walsingham, though the absolute snake pit of the Scottish aristocracy and Scottish politics in general, is well described and quite enlightening. Ultimately, of course, this is a tragic tale and Kate Williams handles the pathos of Mary, Queen of Scots, pretty well overall. Three stars.
I think this book is strictly for fans of Mary Stuart. Elizabeth I doesn't play much of a part, and neither do key figures such as Walsingham, though the absolute snake pit of the Scottish aristocracy and Scottish politics in general, is well described and quite enlightening. Ultimately, of course, this is a tragic tale and Kate Williams handles the pathos of Mary, Queen of Scots, pretty well overall. Three stars.
October 25, 2024
Very much focused on Mary with just a bit of Elizabeth sprinkled throughout and highly sympathetic to the Queen of Scots. There's a lot of examination of the ways Mary is mistreated by men (particularly with Bothwell), great detail on the specifics of her trial and a look at the different moments Mary misstepped and could have been more successful if she played things differently.
I think my favourite moments were those where the text does focus on the relationship between the two queens, specifically how Mary's perceived "failures" as a queen reflect back on Elizabeth and Elizabeth's very justified fear of what opening the door to putting a monarch on trial and executing them means for her own claim to queenship.
This pairs well with Blood, Fire, Gold by Estelle Peranque which looks at the relationship between Elizabeth and Catherine De Medici. Mary plays a smaller role in that one but I've found it interesting to think about that triangular relationship!
I think my favourite moments were those where the text does focus on the relationship between the two queens, specifically how Mary's perceived "failures" as a queen reflect back on Elizabeth and Elizabeth's very justified fear of what opening the door to putting a monarch on trial and executing them means for her own claim to queenship.
This pairs well with Blood, Fire, Gold by Estelle Peranque which looks at the relationship between Elizabeth and Catherine De Medici. Mary plays a smaller role in that one but I've found it interesting to think about that triangular relationship!
December 25, 2021
A beautiful critical analysis of the female monarch with two of the island’s greatest examples; the propaganda-driven Elizabeth I and the tragic Mary, Queen of Scots. I love the detail that Williams has put into this book and as a particular fan of Mary’s, I like that the book focuses on some of her strengths rather than playing to the purely sad narrative that was her life. I’d highly recommend.
December 9, 2018
The new film Mary Queen of Scots starring Margot Robbie will send many searching for a biography of the Scottish Queen. They will not find a worthy characterization in this book by Kate Williams. The biographer presents a very complex story with a cast of thousands. Unfortunately the author has to present a few lines on each of them. At most times there are too many details. Several monarchs and ministers are mentioned in the same paragraph. The result is confusion.
The great rivalry between Elizabeth and Mary was inevitable due to the lack of heirs and the problem of succession. Rather than providing chapters on each the author mires details.
A better approach would have been to describe Mary and Elizabeth in alternate chapters to allow each to develop. The book requires a high level of knowledge of the history of this period. It is more confusing due to successive people earning a lordship and the practice of using only a limited number of first names.
Thea author fails to capture the religious nature of the conflict. Elizabeth was the head of the Church of England supported by the Protestant nobles while Mary was Catholic. The fate of Protestantism in England depended upon the succession of the Protestant heir, James I rather than the threat of Mary.
The book could have been made easier by a series of family trees. That way there is a reference point to who was related to whom.
The book fails to capture the beauty of Mary She captivated men and held the future of Great Britain as a powerful monarch.
Rather than telling every fact the author has found, a more thorough study of characters and results would have been better
The great rivalry between Elizabeth and Mary was inevitable due to the lack of heirs and the problem of succession. Rather than providing chapters on each the author mires details.
A better approach would have been to describe Mary and Elizabeth in alternate chapters to allow each to develop. The book requires a high level of knowledge of the history of this period. It is more confusing due to successive people earning a lordship and the practice of using only a limited number of first names.
Thea author fails to capture the religious nature of the conflict. Elizabeth was the head of the Church of England supported by the Protestant nobles while Mary was Catholic. The fate of Protestantism in England depended upon the succession of the Protestant heir, James I rather than the threat of Mary.
The book could have been made easier by a series of family trees. That way there is a reference point to who was related to whom.
The book fails to capture the beauty of Mary She captivated men and held the future of Great Britain as a powerful monarch.
Rather than telling every fact the author has found, a more thorough study of characters and results would have been better
August 4, 2019
In executing Mary, Elizabeth - as she knew - had executed a tiny part of herself. For if a king could be killed by his subjects, then what was special about a king?
Kate Williams has written a biography of Mary, Queen of Scots that is equal parts about Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. She is remarkably balanced - Elizabeth is not presented as some machiavellian villain, hell-bent on killing Mary, and Mary is not presented as a weak and incompetent monarch that plotted against her cousin without cause. Kate has written about such an emotive subject perfectly, and all I could think whilst reading this was just how differently events could so easily have panned out. Elizabeth has for so long been the villain for her hand in Mary's death, but as Kate points out several times, Elizabeth didn't want to do it, and in the end the matter was quite out of her hands. When presented with the incontrovertible proof of rebellion cooked up by Walsingham, what other course could Elizabeth have taken?? And what else could Mary do but plot her freedom, when she'd languished in captivity for so long, when she'd hoped that England and Elizabeth would be her salvation? The story is truly a tragedy, for had either queen had the power that was afforded to their male counterparts, the story of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I would likely have been entirely different. Kate Williams gets all of this across wonderfully, and I loved every second of reading this book.
Kate Williams has written a biography of Mary, Queen of Scots that is equal parts about Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. She is remarkably balanced - Elizabeth is not presented as some machiavellian villain, hell-bent on killing Mary, and Mary is not presented as a weak and incompetent monarch that plotted against her cousin without cause. Kate has written about such an emotive subject perfectly, and all I could think whilst reading this was just how differently events could so easily have panned out. Elizabeth has for so long been the villain for her hand in Mary's death, but as Kate points out several times, Elizabeth didn't want to do it, and in the end the matter was quite out of her hands. When presented with the incontrovertible proof of rebellion cooked up by Walsingham, what other course could Elizabeth have taken?? And what else could Mary do but plot her freedom, when she'd languished in captivity for so long, when she'd hoped that England and Elizabeth would be her salvation? The story is truly a tragedy, for had either queen had the power that was afforded to their male counterparts, the story of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I would likely have been entirely different. Kate Williams gets all of this across wonderfully, and I loved every second of reading this book.
December 14, 2025
A real Game of Thrones.
On gender and power. How do we really think of women and their right to rule? Unboring, untheoretical feminist history.
So did you know Mary was raped by and forced to marry the Earl of Bothwell? Williams is not the typical male historian who has 'judged her complicit' because she did not escape. Forced to abdicate, Mary ran to England hoping for help from fellow female ruler Elizabeth, who instead kept her holed up in various estates and was then manipulated (by of-course male advisors) into ordering her execution.
A fast-paced page turner.
On gender and power. How do we really think of women and their right to rule? Unboring, untheoretical feminist history.
So did you know Mary was raped by and forced to marry the Earl of Bothwell? Williams is not the typical male historian who has 'judged her complicit' because she did not escape. Forced to abdicate, Mary ran to England hoping for help from fellow female ruler Elizabeth, who instead kept her holed up in various estates and was then manipulated (by of-course male advisors) into ordering her execution.
A fast-paced page turner.
March 4, 2019
Williams focuses on Mary Stuart's relationships and the political intrigues that ensnare the queen. Imprisoned more than once, betrayed several times, Mary Stuart is a pawn despite being royal.
The relationship between Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I is the highlighted while their reigns and political power are contrasted.
Anne Flosnik's reading is steady and soft. The dialogue is differentiated subtly from the narrative.
for a review of the audio performance, check out AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
The relationship between Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I is the highlighted while their reigns and political power are contrasted.
Anne Flosnik's reading is steady and soft. The dialogue is differentiated subtly from the narrative.
for a review of the audio performance, check out AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
September 24, 2019
Very well written, and a very interesting story
July 13, 2020
The tense relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots may be old news at this point, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to stop reading about it.
I feel that the description for this particular book is a bit misleading in that it “tells the story of Mary and Elizabeth as never before, focusing on their emotions.” I didn’t discover anything that I hadn’t read before in separate biographies of these women, but as this was the first book I’ve read which focuses specifically on the relationship between the two, perhaps this is new in terms of format? We get all the details about Elizabeth & Leicester, Mary & Darnley & Bothwell. It’s hard not to wonder what Mary’s life would have been like if Francis II hadn’t died so young.
I liked the comparison between the two women in terms of Mary’s life being somewhat of a case study for why Elizabeth chose not to take a husband. It’s easy to make the inference that she saw how men could so easily destroy women (he mother), but Mary’s life was entirely forfeit to the changing schemes of the men around her (so much so that she was able to trick Darnley into playing against his fellow conspirators). I was sad to read the letters between Mary and her son, James. She had so much hope that he would save her and I could feel her betrayal when she wrote back, calling him ungrateful.
It’s interesting to see how the narrative around Mary has changed from villain to victim over time, and how much religion has tempered that narrative. Elizabeth experienced tragedies of her own, but Mary seemed to experience no reversal of fortune at all.
See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram
I feel that the description for this particular book is a bit misleading in that it “tells the story of Mary and Elizabeth as never before, focusing on their emotions.” I didn’t discover anything that I hadn’t read before in separate biographies of these women, but as this was the first book I’ve read which focuses specifically on the relationship between the two, perhaps this is new in terms of format? We get all the details about Elizabeth & Leicester, Mary & Darnley & Bothwell. It’s hard not to wonder what Mary’s life would have been like if Francis II hadn’t died so young.
I liked the comparison between the two women in terms of Mary’s life being somewhat of a case study for why Elizabeth chose not to take a husband. It’s easy to make the inference that she saw how men could so easily destroy women (he mother), but Mary’s life was entirely forfeit to the changing schemes of the men around her (so much so that she was able to trick Darnley into playing against his fellow conspirators). I was sad to read the letters between Mary and her son, James. She had so much hope that he would save her and I could feel her betrayal when she wrote back, calling him ungrateful.
It’s interesting to see how the narrative around Mary has changed from villain to victim over time, and how much religion has tempered that narrative. Elizabeth experienced tragedies of her own, but Mary seemed to experience no reversal of fortune at all.
See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram
November 16, 2022
Wow! This book was fantastic!It gave a pretty thorough historical account of both Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth's life in an engaging telling. While most people are likely at least familiar with their stories, I was really fascinated in how the author managed to intertwine and tell their story in a different way. I finished the book really feeling sympathetic for both women. They lived in a man's world and were manipulated by the men in their lives. Both fought to maintain their position in the only ways they knew how, yet their stories ended up vastly different. Queen Mary was thrown into some awful situations and her advisors held little respect for her, but while Queen Elizabeth had loyal advisors, they or at least Cecil, still impressed their wants upon her and did as they wanted at times regardless of her wishes and higher status. Neither women were perfect and they both made mistakes along the way, but one has to wonder what would have happened had they had the opportunity to meet and develop a bond in person.
July 9, 2019
An incredibly interesting, well-researched set of biographies of Mary and Elizabeth from Kate Williams's distinctive, warm voice. She makes historical figures come to life, and I love the way she writes. (14+)
*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. If you use it in any marketing material, online or anywhere on a published book without asking permission from me first, I will ask you to remove that use immediately. Thank you!*
*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. If you use it in any marketing material, online or anywhere on a published book without asking permission from me first, I will ask you to remove that use immediately. Thank you!*
September 29, 2022
A scintillating retelling of all things to do with Mary Queen of Scots, embellished with insights regarding life during historical times. The way royal children were treated as currency, the absolutely demoralising way women were treated and how difficult it was to survive in historical London is well portrayed. This book was straight on my list following our visit to the Tower of London this year. There were so many interesting snippets in this book that I could place in my mind in relation to our travels. Highly recommend it to history buffs!
August 5, 2021
It's a heartbreaking story of queen who was a helpless pawn. She became queen at just 6 days old which led to becoming a continuous political pawn from the very beginning. She was also quite unlucky at love. Throughout her life, she had to endure resentment and jealousy from her cousin Elizabeth I.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2025
Wonderfully researched and detailed biography of Mary Queen of Scots written, it seems to me, by someone who champions Mary in spite of her indictment. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this excellent history. Such a scary time to be royal.
June 12, 2020
4.3/5 stars, full review to come! Mary, sweetie, I am so sorry.
Organization : 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment of subject/ideas: 5/5
Organization : 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment of subject/ideas: 5/5
January 9, 2025
Heel interessant
July 30, 2021
Family rivalry between a pair of queens inevitably makes for a compelling story, and The Betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots seeks to familiarize readers with just such a (true) tale. The book lays out the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her half-sister Mary Queen of Scots; they were both fathered by King Henry VIII but their mothers were Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon, respectively.
Mary, who became queen of France at the age of six days and later the queen of Scotland as well, was viewed as a heroine by the Catholics of Europe. Her half-sister, however, was despised by papists and viewed as a heretic along the lines of her father, Henry. This religious difference makes questions of succession to the English throne a huge deal, as the childless Elizabeth refused to name an heir and opened herself up to machinations by those seeking to supplant her, sooner or later, as queen.
Author Kate Williams had a lot of material to work with, but the overall product is a disappointment. It could have used another rewrite and better editing, as numerous sentences are stilted and come across as poorly written/phrased. This took away from what is undeniably a gripping sixteenth century drama, although some ground was made up for courtesy of good pacing and an overall strong structuring of the narrative.
The book makes clear that Mary’s Scottish nobles are a constant source of headaches for her, and she comes across a woman frequently abused and taken advantage of by those who were assumed to be loyal. Examples of this abound. Her secretary, the Italian David Rizzio, was a man some in her Scottish court, including her then-husband Lord Darnley, felt she was getting a little too close to. In 1566, Rizzio was brutally murdered in front of her while they were having dinner; one of the assailants even aimed his weapon at the pregnant Mary’s stomach in order to stop her intervention. Within a year, Lord Darnley’s dead body was found outside of the Kirk o’ Fields Home in Edinburgh, which had just been destroyed courtesy of a gunpowder explosion all but certainly intended to kill him. This odd circumstance created an air of suspicion toward Mary that she had had her husband, a man for whom she did not much care for, killed. The Earl of Moray, who loathed Mary and wanted her off the Scots throne, hatched a plan with other anti-Marian lords to use these accusations to forever destroy her ability to govern. As if these instances of perfidy and violence were not enough, her confidant Lord Bothwell allegedly raped Mary in an effort to shame her into marrying him after she had sought refuge with him during the unrest following Darnley’s apparent murder. In a century where rape was often considered the woman’s fault, she would go on to make Bothwell her third husband despite this heinous act.
Not surprisingly given this string of awful occurrences, Mary flees Scotland in 1568 to escape her imprisonment at Lochleven fortress. She arrives in Workington, England, with the intention of throwing herself on Queen Elizabeth’s mercy and even half-expecting a contingent of English troops would be awarded her to march back into Scotland with.
But in assuming this she made a grave miscalculation. Remaining under a cloud of suspicion given her leak of zeal in investigating Darley’s murder, Elizabeth orders her held in captivity at the hands of the English until she can clear her name.
This goes on to become captivity which lasts through the remainder of Mary’s life, as she is shuffled from Bolton Castle to Tutbury Castle to Wingfield House to Sheffield Castle and ultimately to the spot of her execution after trickery is employed by her enemies. Although her freedom of movement is limited, Mary was not completely deprived during her time in captivity. Her apartments were "hung with tapestries and lit with chandeliers, thick carpets on the floor and the chairs upholstered in gold and crimson. Mary Seton dressed her hair to dazzling effect and Mary's cosmetics bill would have sunk a lesser host. She sent to Paris for the latest designs and 'cloth of gold and silver, and of silks, the handsomest and the rarest that are worn at court.'"
During her captivity, she is at first kept under the watchful eye of George Talbot, 6th Early of Shrewsbury, who is accused of being a little to deferential to his “captive.”
The exiled queen ends up with Sir Amyas Paulet as her watcher, and it is during her time under his gaze that she is set up and convicted for participating in the Babington Plot.
Mary had begun sneaking out and receiving coded letters during her years of captivity in England, and she became a bit too complacent that this code would never be cracked. But it was, and her enemies-spearheaded by the English queen's secretary William Cecil, who rivaled Moray's disdain for Mary-accused her of taking part in a plot to have Elizabeth killed and winning back over England to Catholicism. These accusations, though largely true, were aided by 'casket papers' allegedly discovered in Mary's room but which were either outright forgeries or journal entries and communication taken wildly out of context. She had indeed been in communication with potential plotters via the since broken code, and although she never outrights calls for Elizabeth to be killed such a wish can be inferred via the coded letters.
Since the recently passed Bond of Association allowed for the conviction of players even tangentially involved in a plot on the queen of England's life, Mary's enemies had what they needed to convict her in court. Even her teenage son, the future English King James of Bible version fame, gave up defending her as it became clear Elizabeth was not going to be placing her in the line of succession.
Kept in the dark about the knowledge of the cracked code beforehand, Mary spoke up to defend herself at the trial before having her knees cut out from under her when informed of the discovery of her own coded letters to Babington Plot participants. This flimsy evidence was enough for her to be convicted, and she would be executed in Fotheringhay Castle on February 8th, 1587. She was refused the last rites of the Catholic Church and forced to have a Protestant minister consult with prior to her quickly carried out decapitation.
Queen Elizabeth, who had been hesitant to put her own half-sister and fellow monarch to death, angrily decried afterward that she had only approved the execution as a last ditch punishment and declared herself shocked that it had actually been carried out by her underlings. The idea that a queen of any country could be executed at the instigation of Parliament was one she found repugnant, and this was a major reason who she had kept Mary in captivity for so long instead of just killing her off and being done with the competing claims to her throne.
The Betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots is a good, but not impressive, nonfiction book. The author's frequently poor prose took away much of what was commendable about it, but the story of Elizabeth and Mary's squabbling and love-hate relationship makes for gripping enough reading to keep readers plowing forward regardless.
Much of historical importance can be learned from reading this book, and it does do nice work in laying out the broader developments (such as the growth of more of a constitutional as opposed to absolute monarchy) which stemmed from Mary's trial and execution. In the hands of a more skilled writer it would earn higher praise, but the shortcomings in style force it to be docked several stars.
-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado
Mary, who became queen of France at the age of six days and later the queen of Scotland as well, was viewed as a heroine by the Catholics of Europe. Her half-sister, however, was despised by papists and viewed as a heretic along the lines of her father, Henry. This religious difference makes questions of succession to the English throne a huge deal, as the childless Elizabeth refused to name an heir and opened herself up to machinations by those seeking to supplant her, sooner or later, as queen.
Author Kate Williams had a lot of material to work with, but the overall product is a disappointment. It could have used another rewrite and better editing, as numerous sentences are stilted and come across as poorly written/phrased. This took away from what is undeniably a gripping sixteenth century drama, although some ground was made up for courtesy of good pacing and an overall strong structuring of the narrative.
The book makes clear that Mary’s Scottish nobles are a constant source of headaches for her, and she comes across a woman frequently abused and taken advantage of by those who were assumed to be loyal. Examples of this abound. Her secretary, the Italian David Rizzio, was a man some in her Scottish court, including her then-husband Lord Darnley, felt she was getting a little too close to. In 1566, Rizzio was brutally murdered in front of her while they were having dinner; one of the assailants even aimed his weapon at the pregnant Mary’s stomach in order to stop her intervention. Within a year, Lord Darnley’s dead body was found outside of the Kirk o’ Fields Home in Edinburgh, which had just been destroyed courtesy of a gunpowder explosion all but certainly intended to kill him. This odd circumstance created an air of suspicion toward Mary that she had had her husband, a man for whom she did not much care for, killed. The Earl of Moray, who loathed Mary and wanted her off the Scots throne, hatched a plan with other anti-Marian lords to use these accusations to forever destroy her ability to govern. As if these instances of perfidy and violence were not enough, her confidant Lord Bothwell allegedly raped Mary in an effort to shame her into marrying him after she had sought refuge with him during the unrest following Darnley’s apparent murder. In a century where rape was often considered the woman’s fault, she would go on to make Bothwell her third husband despite this heinous act.
Not surprisingly given this string of awful occurrences, Mary flees Scotland in 1568 to escape her imprisonment at Lochleven fortress. She arrives in Workington, England, with the intention of throwing herself on Queen Elizabeth’s mercy and even half-expecting a contingent of English troops would be awarded her to march back into Scotland with.
But in assuming this she made a grave miscalculation. Remaining under a cloud of suspicion given her leak of zeal in investigating Darley’s murder, Elizabeth orders her held in captivity at the hands of the English until she can clear her name.
This goes on to become captivity which lasts through the remainder of Mary’s life, as she is shuffled from Bolton Castle to Tutbury Castle to Wingfield House to Sheffield Castle and ultimately to the spot of her execution after trickery is employed by her enemies. Although her freedom of movement is limited, Mary was not completely deprived during her time in captivity. Her apartments were "hung with tapestries and lit with chandeliers, thick carpets on the floor and the chairs upholstered in gold and crimson. Mary Seton dressed her hair to dazzling effect and Mary's cosmetics bill would have sunk a lesser host. She sent to Paris for the latest designs and 'cloth of gold and silver, and of silks, the handsomest and the rarest that are worn at court.'"
During her captivity, she is at first kept under the watchful eye of George Talbot, 6th Early of Shrewsbury, who is accused of being a little to deferential to his “captive.”
The exiled queen ends up with Sir Amyas Paulet as her watcher, and it is during her time under his gaze that she is set up and convicted for participating in the Babington Plot.
Mary had begun sneaking out and receiving coded letters during her years of captivity in England, and she became a bit too complacent that this code would never be cracked. But it was, and her enemies-spearheaded by the English queen's secretary William Cecil, who rivaled Moray's disdain for Mary-accused her of taking part in a plot to have Elizabeth killed and winning back over England to Catholicism. These accusations, though largely true, were aided by 'casket papers' allegedly discovered in Mary's room but which were either outright forgeries or journal entries and communication taken wildly out of context. She had indeed been in communication with potential plotters via the since broken code, and although she never outrights calls for Elizabeth to be killed such a wish can be inferred via the coded letters.
Since the recently passed Bond of Association allowed for the conviction of players even tangentially involved in a plot on the queen of England's life, Mary's enemies had what they needed to convict her in court. Even her teenage son, the future English King James of Bible version fame, gave up defending her as it became clear Elizabeth was not going to be placing her in the line of succession.
Kept in the dark about the knowledge of the cracked code beforehand, Mary spoke up to defend herself at the trial before having her knees cut out from under her when informed of the discovery of her own coded letters to Babington Plot participants. This flimsy evidence was enough for her to be convicted, and she would be executed in Fotheringhay Castle on February 8th, 1587. She was refused the last rites of the Catholic Church and forced to have a Protestant minister consult with prior to her quickly carried out decapitation.
Queen Elizabeth, who had been hesitant to put her own half-sister and fellow monarch to death, angrily decried afterward that she had only approved the execution as a last ditch punishment and declared herself shocked that it had actually been carried out by her underlings. The idea that a queen of any country could be executed at the instigation of Parliament was one she found repugnant, and this was a major reason who she had kept Mary in captivity for so long instead of just killing her off and being done with the competing claims to her throne.
The Betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots is a good, but not impressive, nonfiction book. The author's frequently poor prose took away much of what was commendable about it, but the story of Elizabeth and Mary's squabbling and love-hate relationship makes for gripping enough reading to keep readers plowing forward regardless.
Much of historical importance can be learned from reading this book, and it does do nice work in laying out the broader developments (such as the growth of more of a constitutional as opposed to absolute monarchy) which stemmed from Mary's trial and execution. In the hands of a more skilled writer it would earn higher praise, but the shortcomings in style force it to be docked several stars.
-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado
December 21, 2020
3/5 because of the repetition of information. This starts out very interestingly, but is so full of names I did get lost a few times. The author is very much pro-Queen Mary, and that is not a bad thing. I would agree that she could use more supporters. As we get to the end of Mary’s story, the author becomes more repetitive about how Mary was innocent of (most of) the crimes put against her and of the evidence used to support the claims. I felt like I was rereading the same passage over and over again and became frustrated with the book. I wanted it to move along to the series of events that followed the accusations and trials, and instead I got another page telling me that the evidence was likely forged. Please be more concise. It felt unnecessarily long.
November 16, 2018
Kate Williams is an exasperatingly welcome, new breed of historian, leading the way amongst a clever and witty bunch of folk, who not only cover history in a non-stuffy old academic way, but have reinvigorated the genre (along with the likes of Hallie Rubenhold and Alice Roberts). They make it accessible to those that would not even have the courage and the interest in history. And her new book about the heart-breaking story of two cousins who reigned over two realms and came to passive aggressive blows and eventually, blood thirsty death is truly fascinating.
This is no more evident than in all of Kate's wonderful, effervescent tomes and her work so far in TV, where she has re-defined the presentation of historical figures and made them the captivating figures they always desired to be in the first place.
Previously these subjects have fallen victim to dull and uninspiring writers and personalities that make you pass the bookshelves, fall asleep in class or reach for the remote. That is no more.
She has, for a long time, given me a new thirst and interest to read more about history and I have been looking for someone for a long time to turn me onto this genre. If nothing else is achieved, and this is just one of her books that has done just that.
This is no more evident than in all of Kate's wonderful, effervescent tomes and her work so far in TV, where she has re-defined the presentation of historical figures and made them the captivating figures they always desired to be in the first place.
Previously these subjects have fallen victim to dull and uninspiring writers and personalities that make you pass the bookshelves, fall asleep in class or reach for the remote. That is no more.
She has, for a long time, given me a new thirst and interest to read more about history and I have been looking for someone for a long time to turn me onto this genre. If nothing else is achieved, and this is just one of her books that has done just that.
December 2, 2018
Thought this was a fantastic book which gives great insight to both Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth as individuals and their relationship with each other. I never realised what Mary went through towards the end of her life. Would highly recommend!
June 4, 2023
I only finished this book out of morbid curiosity. The author is not a bad writer and she has some good information in here, but it is not really a dual biography of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. It is more balanced in focus in the beginning, but the author is an ardent Mary defender, to the point that she seems to lose all objectivity.
Ironically, the more she tried to convince me that Mary was brilliant, the more she convinced me that she was terribly inept and not really worthy of so much strident defending. She repeatedly points to instances where Mary made the worst possible choice possible and then tries to jump through incredibly specious hoops to claim it was a good decision or a reasonable decision. She also ignores how Mary brought a lot of suffering on herself with her poor decisions. Her claim that Elizabeth I also somehow betrayed Mary is also bizarre and pretty thin.
The author also seems to be lacking a lot of context about 16th century Scotland that I really enjoyed in Jenny Wormald's book.
I'd love to read a better, more balanced book on MQOS, but at this rate, I won't be reading any more of this author's books.
Ironically, the more she tried to convince me that Mary was brilliant, the more she convinced me that she was terribly inept and not really worthy of so much strident defending. She repeatedly points to instances where Mary made the worst possible choice possible and then tries to jump through incredibly specious hoops to claim it was a good decision or a reasonable decision. She also ignores how Mary brought a lot of suffering on herself with her poor decisions. Her claim that Elizabeth I also somehow betrayed Mary is also bizarre and pretty thin.
The author also seems to be lacking a lot of context about 16th century Scotland that I really enjoyed in Jenny Wormald's book.
I'd love to read a better, more balanced book on MQOS, but at this rate, I won't be reading any more of this author's books.
March 10, 2019
Fascinating book on the history between Elizabeth and Mary. It is told in a very narrative style, so it's not as dry or boring as a non-fiction book could be. The hardest part is trying to keep everyone straight: Half the women are named Mary, so you need to keep all of them sorted out. The men share Philips and Williams. Then there are the names/titles/relationships between people. It would have been nice to have a family tree in the front for each of the queens.
As you read it, you can sympathize with Mary as well as Elizabeth. As two women in positions of great power, you can see how they tried to balance their private and public lives, and you can see where the results of the decisions they had to make had far-reaching consequences. It was a little confusing trying to figure out how much influence the people around them had over them. The book is constantly mentioning how strong-willed these women are, and in the next sentence mentioning how they were mislead and influenced by the men around them.
As you read it, you can sympathize with Mary as well as Elizabeth. As two women in positions of great power, you can see how they tried to balance their private and public lives, and you can see where the results of the decisions they had to make had far-reaching consequences. It was a little confusing trying to figure out how much influence the people around them had over them. The book is constantly mentioning how strong-willed these women are, and in the next sentence mentioning how they were mislead and influenced by the men around them.
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