Lets fatten up our TBR list! Recomend a book chain

[Linda]

For a good early Tudor adventure, visit Nancy Bilyeau's very fine The Crown and also the Chalice, Books one and two of the adventures and challenges to Joanna Stafford

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Currently reading The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England and enjoying it thoroughly. (His guide to 14th century England is also excellent, btw.)

[Denise]

Legacy was one of the first Tudor books I read.

[Catherine]

Its actually the very first tudor fiction ive picked up so far ive only read a couple non fiction. Im loving it so much right now.

[Denise]

It's been decades since I read it, but I seem to recall that it may have been fiction, but stuck very closely to the true history, which is less common these days. I finally had to stop reading fiction about the Tudors, because the inaccuracies bothered me so much. I have nothing against it as a genre, and understand that so many people enjoy it, but just personally for me, the real story is interesting enough.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Yeah, I kinda agree with that. The actual story is so interesting and weird, why make something up?

[Catherine]

From what i know about Elizabeth I this book seems quite historically accurate! I cant imagine ever trying another fiction about her after this one though. Whats the point? I remember attempting The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir and it really didnt do it for me. Compared to Legacy it was...bad. Still very much want to try her non fiction though.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Her non-fiction is pretty good.

[Linda]

Christine wrote: "Linda wrote: "For a good early Tudor adventure, visit Nancy Bilyeau's very fine The Crown and also the Chalice, Books one and two of the adventures and challenges to Joanna Stafford"

Have both boo..."

I understand there is a third one coming.

[Denise]

Katie wrote: "From what i know about Elizabeth I this book seems quite historically accurate! I cant imagine ever trying another fiction about her after this one though. Whats the point? I remember attempting Th..."

Alison Weir is my favorite non-fiction author about the British monarchy. I haven't read any of her fiction.

[Catherine]

From what I gathered from reviews her fiction is not anywhere near as good as her non fiction. Thats why im still excited to read the Six Wives! Its been on my list forever.

[Orsolya]

Susanna wrote: "Currently reading The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England and enjoying it thoroughly. (His guide to 14th century England is also excellent, btw.)"

I don't think it was as great as the medieval guide. I gave it 3 stars.

[Linda]

Katie wrote: "From what I gathered from reviews her fiction is not anywhere near as good as her non fiction. Thats why im still excited to read the Six Wives! Its been on my list forever."

I wholly agree that her non-fiction is far better than her fiction.

[Kimmie]

I disagree that he spent the first ten years eliminating the Yorks. I am reading a book about him right now and to me it seemed like killing them was the last thing Henry the VII wanted. In fact he went out of his way to lock them in the tower so he would not have to kill them. He only had one hung unfairly. Plus, Elizabeth (Henry VIII's mother) ended up loving him. I think he was a fair King, but did what he needed to in order to secure the throne for his sons. And without him doing that we would not have all this wonderful Tudor history and banter :)

[Linda]

And none of these men were saints, even the ones were revere as such, I think.

[Irene]

Somehow we're getting off the original topic so allow me to get us back on track, if even for a moment. :)

When it comes to Alison Weir, I generally like her books but there are a couple I like less and feel that they don't flow very well. One of my favorites is, and I hope no one has already mentioned it, is I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles. The first time I read it I think I finished it in two days.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

I really liked I, Elizabeth.

(And I just signed up for a chance to win a new Weir non-fiction - Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)

[happy]

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Currently reading The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England and enjoying it thoroughly. (His guide to 14th century England is also excellent, btw.)"

The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

I just started this one. I've enjoyed it so far. I like Mortimer's style

[Denise]

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "I really liked I, Elizabeth.

(And I just signed up for a chance to win a new Weir non-fiction - Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)"

Ooh, that sounds like a good one! I'll have to be on the look-out for it!

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

I liked Mortimer's Elizabethan guide. (His one to the 14th century is excellent, btw.)

[happy]

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "I liked Mortimer's Elizabethan guide. (His one to the 14th century is excellent, btw.)"

I enjoyed his Medieval guide as well. I've also like his regular medieval biographies.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Haven't read his biographies yet, but will keep an eye out for them.

[Robin]

I also loved Nancy Bilyeau 2 books and eagerly await the 3rd. Elizabeth Fremantle' s book on Katherine Parr: Queens Gambit has received good reviews. I have it on my Kindle but haven't read it yet.

[S.]

Misfit wrote: "Those are excellent and I'm ashamed to admit I'm old enough to have watched the first time they aired on public television."

Me, too.

One night, knowing I was coming down with a terrible flu, I passed by the book shop where I'd been salivating over the first authoritative bio of Anne Boleyn in decades, just come out in the first edition.

I bought it. (Probably the only brand-new hard cover I ever did.) I laid in my sick bed & devoured it. It was good.

"Anne Boleyn" by Eric Ives. A dry-as-dust Oxford fellow. But with Anne, that's good. Everyone's so willing to fantasize and fictionalize her. (about 1986-ish I think)

This fellow is "just the facts." It may be the only place you'll ever find exactly what is definitely known & proven about her; and what is conjecture.

I can't find the 1980s title by him here, but this book by the same author is dated 2004 or so. Not sure if it's a revision, new edition, or different book altogether; but I'd feel sure he did a good job of it.
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Yes, I took a look in World Catalog, and the 1980s book seems to have just been called "Anne Boleyn," and currently seems to be out of print. It doesn't seem to be in the database here.

[Dean]

Here's a few books I would recommend on the Tudor & Elizabethan era, not all focused just on Elizabeth or the Tudors specifically...hope they are of interest.

The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I - Touching on the intrigue and machinations of Elizabethan spies.

House Of Treason: The Rise And Fall Of A Tudor Dynasty

The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution

The Pirate Queen Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire

God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot

The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty

Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Elizabeth's London is excellent; haven't read the others, but they look like good reads, all of them.

[Aly]

I've begun to read The Tudors: The Story of the Most Notorious Dynasty, but I'm having a tough time with it. I'm a bit of a Henry advocate and the author clearly has an ax to grind where Henry is concerned. It's making reading it a bit difficult for me. Obviously every author has a bias, and no matter how hard they try, it's almost always going to show through in one way or another. But his showed his within the first couple of pages. I'm going to keep plugging away at it, and the book itself is very beautiful (I have a hard cover edition with Henry and Elizabeth on the front), but I'm not expecting to really like it when I'm finished.

[Allison]

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Just learned about The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen, by Susan Bordo, which looks very interesting."

First time I've looked at this thread in months! So glad I did, this book looks awesome!

[M.K.]

Readers might be interested in the 2013 list of favourite historical fiction authors. Details at http://wp.me/p29Qar-vf. This year's survey reached more than 2400 participants.
M.K. Tod

[happy]

Thnx for that list Dean - I've read a few of them and the rest look good.

[happy]

For those who enjoy mysteries Patricia Finney has two series out set in Elizabeth's reign

David Becket and Simon Ames - three books

written as P.F. Chisholm

Sir Robert Carey series - six books

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

I see Susan Bordo's The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen is a monthly special for kindle this month. Has anyone here read it?

[Peggy]

I read it and found it fascinating.

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "I see Susan Bordo's The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen is a monthly special for kindle this month. Has anyone here read it?"

[Ann]

I read it and recommend it highly. I especially enjoyed the interviews she had with Genevieve Bujold and Natalie Dormer, both of whom are known for their portrayals of Anne Boleyn. I found out that Natalie had planned to go to university to study history until she messed up her A levels. She was picked to play Anne because of her chemistry with Jonathan Rhys Myers. She is a natural blonde, but insisted on dying her hair to play Anne as dark haired.

[Juliew.]

I just added The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen to my to read list and plan on reading it very soon.

[Krystal]

I'm going to recommend a Candian author here:

, , , and by Barbara Kyle. The series goes from King Henry VIII to Queen Elizabeth I with Blood Between Queens being between Elizabeth and the queen of scots. The first is about smuggling protestants out before the reformation.

[Jackie]

I read the Queens Lady and loved it. I found it at a thrift store and didn't know anything about it. It was very well written, a great story about exactly the above, smuggling protestants out before the reformation.

[Ashleigh]

Has any read To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley?

I have just come across it through reccommendations, it seems interesting.

[Dean]

I finally finished The Tudors by Peter Ackroyd .
Here's a short review:

The Tudors by acclaimed British author Peter Ackroyd is the second volume in his new History of England series, although reading the first book (Foundation) is by no means necessary Ackroyd's highly readable, engaging review of the reigns of the corpulent and much-wedded Henry VIII, Bloody Mary and Elizabeth I (interrupted albeit briefly by Henry VII's on Edward VI's six year reign).

Ackroyd brings the same sharp acumen and evocative social insight evident in his previous works Foundation and in London: A Biography. Ackroyd hangs the overarching story-line on the key events and players but lavishes particular attention on the belief systems and intricacies of the burgeoning English Reformation which drove Tudor rule. He has a particular talent for interweaving the tiniest of details and tying them back to the epic sweep of history.

Dry it is not, however it is by necessity somewhat cursory on some of the more infamous events of the period. Ackroyd is a brilliant writer and, given his background and focus on cultural roots and sociology, he brings a different and often highly discerning eye to the historical events of the period. He keeps a fairly razor eye on the roots of the English Reformation and the events therein, rather than, as many histories of the period do, highlighting the soap opera of Henry VIII's long procession of wives. He provides a strong thematic thread for the ebb and flow of England's slide away from Catholicism, tying the many elements traditionally linked back to Tudor power, into a broader context.

Ackroyd provides a solid, eminently readable book that any student of the era would be wise to crack open.

[Carolina]

I recommend the historical romance Velvet saga by Virginia Henley, they are very good and set in the late years of Henry VII's reign. Good character development.
Also O' Malley saga and Skye's legacy which takes place between the last Tudor monarchs' periods to the Stuarts:
Other historical romance set during the Tudor and Elizabethan era:

Plantagenets/Tudors (non-fiction): and the sequel to this which looks good too: . Other books that cover this family that focus on the rarely explored women: . Others:

Other Women from this period (Fiction and Non-Fiction):

[Gail]

дshləigh wrote: "Has any read To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley?

I have just come across it through reccommendations, it seems interesting."

Yes, I like the series, but love the first book. Mystery set during Elizabeth's reign about the intrigues of the court.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

Just got The Sisters Who Would Be Queen; it's on sale for kindle. (Something like $1.99, I think.) This one looks interesting.

[Carolina]

That's a good book. Her book on the Tudors "Tudor" is also very good.
Currently reading non-Tudor book at moment (Edward III by Ormond, it is ok so far) and fantasy, will have a lot of history and fantasy titles to read this year until season 5 of GoT (Game of Thrones).

[Lesley]

Looking for a good value read? Great Tudor adventure on special offer. First in the series. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HGULBU0
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HGULBU0

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4]

I see Margaret Campbell Barnes' The Tudor Rose is currently $2.99 for kindle - has anyone read it, and is it worth getting?

[Hunter]

Can anyone suggest a book on Jane Seymour? It would be especially great if the book is available on Kindle Unlimited, and not a Kindle version for $9.99. :/ (I'm on a budget!) Thank you in advance for any recommendations.

Nevermind. Someone has gifted me with 'Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love' by Elizabeth Norton. Can't wait to read it!

[Kimber]

The Sisters who would be Queen is also a great book about Jane. We're currently reading it as a group read even though it's non-fiction. I'm currently reading Lady Viper - about Anne Seymour - Jane's sister in law and her life with Jane as Queen all the way through Queen Mary being put on the throne.

[Colin]

How can I read most recent comments. the start from 6 yrs ago

[happy]

Colin,

at the top of the comment there is the word date with a carot beside it click on the date and the sort will change depending on what is currently selected