Mary Tudor watches her elder brother become King of England and wonders what the future holds for her. Born into great privilege, Mary has beauty and intelligence beyond her years and is the most marriageable princess in Europe. Henry plans to use her marriage to build a powerful alliance against his enemies. Will she dare risk his anger by marrying for love?Meticulously researched and based on actual events, this 'sequel' follows Mary's story from book three of the Tudor Trilogy and is set during the reign of King Henry VIII.

    However, as acclaimed historian Tracy Borman makes clear in her illuminating new chronicle of Henry's life, his reign and reputation were hugely influenced by the men who surrounded and interacted with him as companions and confidants, servants and ministers, and occasionally as rivals--many of whom have been underplayed in previous biographies. These relationships offer a fresh, often surprising perspective on the legendary king, revealing the contradictions in his beliefs, behavior, and character in a nuanced light. They show him capable of fierce but seldom abiding loyalty, of raising men up only to destroy them later. He loved to be attended by boisterous young men, the likes of his intimate friend Charles Brandon, who shared his passion for sport, but could also be diverted by men of intellect, culture, and wit, as his longstanding interplay with Cardinal Wolsey and his reluctant abandonment of Thomas More attest. Eager to escape the shadow of his father, Henry VII, he was often trusting and easily led by male attendants and advisors early in his reign (his coronation was just shy of his 18th birthday in 1509); in time, though, he matured into a profoundly suspicious and paranoid king whose ruthlessness would be ever more apparent, as Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and uncle to two of Henry's wives, discovered to his great discomfort, and as Eustace Chapuys, the ambassador of Charles V of Spain, often reported.Recounting the great Tudor's life and signal moments through the lens of his male relationships, Tracy Borman's new biography reveals Henry's personality in all its multi-faceted, contradictory glory, and sheds fresh light on his reign for anyone fascinated by the Tudor era and its legacy.

    A carnival atmosphere presided at court, with a twelve-day-long festival of entertainments, pageants, theatre productions and ‘disguisings’, when even the king and queen dressed up in costume to fool their courtiers. Throughout the festive season, all ranks of subjects were freed for a short time from everyday cares to indulge in eating, drinking, dancing and game-playing.We might assume that our modern Christmas owes much to the Victorians. In fact, as Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke reveal in this fascinating book, many of our favourite Christmas traditions date back much further. Carol-singing, present-giving, mulled wine and mince pies were all just as popular in Tudor times, and even Father Christmas and roast turkey dinners have their origins in this period. The festival was so beloved by English people that Christmas traditions survived remarkably unchanged in this age of tumultuous religious upheaval.Beautifully illustrated with original line drawings throughout, this enchanting compendium will fascinate anyone with an interest in Tudor life – and anyone who loves Christmas.

    Joanna Hickson weaves a compelling tale of Henry’s grueling bid for kingship; encompassing exile, betrayal and intrigue, Henry faced obstacles at every turn. With her superb storytelling abilities, the author gets at the man behind the crown and delivers a dramatic and fascinating historical narrative.

    He ruled ruthlessly, was quick to cry “treason!” and execute, and equally quick to fall in and out of love. Henry changed the religious fabric of England forever and left his mark on the wider world – but what of the six women he took as his queens? From the regal and capable Catherine of Aragon to the patient and generous Katherine Parr, Henry’s wives represented a range of personalities, goals, beliefs, and influences on the king. Each of Henry’s six wives represented a facet of the king himself, whether he liked to admit it or not; unfortunately, a Queen of England at the side of Henry VIII could never be sure of her husband’s love – or her safety. These are the stories of three Catherines, two Annes and one Jane. This captivating history book covers topics such as: Henry Tudor Catherine of Aragon Mistress Elizabeth Blount Mistress Mary Boleyn Anne Boleyn Anne of Cleves Mistress Mary Shelton The Wooing of Jane Seymour Catherine Howard The Culpeper Affair Katherine Parr More Theories on Henry Tudor’s Fertility The Illegitimate Children of Henry VIII And much more! So if you want to learn more about the six wives of Henry VIII, click "buy now"!

    These men and the beliefs held about women at the time helped to shape Mary’s life. She was trained to be a dutiful wife and at the age of 18 Mary married the French king Louis XII, 34 years her senior. Her husband died three months later. As a young widow Mary blossomed, this was the opportunity to show the world the strong, self-willed, determined woman she always had been. She remarried for love and at great personal risk. She loved and respected Catherine of Aragon and despised Anne Boleyn—a dangerous position to take up. Author Sarah Bryson has returned to primary sources, state papers and letters, to unearth the truth about this intelligent and passionate woman.

    When a nameless child is abandoned at the gatehouse door, the nuns take her in and raise her as one of their own. As Henry VIII’s second queen dies on the scaffold, the embittered King strikes out, and unprecedented change sweeps across the country. The bells of the great abbeys fall silent, the church and the very foundation of the realm begins to crack. Determined to preserve their way of life, novitiate nuns Margery and Grace join a pilgrimage thirty thousand strong to lead the king back to grace. Sisters of Arden is a story of valour, virtue and veritas.

    Abandoned by most of her friends, betrayed by those who professed their love, she sits and waits for the final act in the tragic story of her life, her execution. In the gloom of the evening, accompanied only by her two closest companions, Mary Seton and Jane Kennedy, she reflects on her turbulent life. She remembers the moments that brought her happiness, Francois and her time in France, the early love for Lord Darnley and the joy at the birth of her son James. She also recalls the moments of despair and danger. The deaths of her first two husbands, the second in horrendous fashion, the brutal murder of her Italian secretary and the marriage to Bothwell that finally led to her demise. As the hours pass, Mary's end is nearing, but then she receives an unexpected visitor. Could her torment finally be over? Recommended for fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir and The Tudors. Roy Calley is a former journalist and the author of On The Trail of Mary, Queen of Scots. He lives in France.

    But when the eye of first a nobleman, and then King Henry himself falls upon her, her beauty will only get her so far. If Anne wants to succeed in the vicious game of court politics, she must use all of her wit and cunning, and she cannot risk falling in love with a man she cannot predict.

    Penned by a lifelong “Henry Head,” The Lazy Historian’s Guide to the Wives of Henry VIII combines Jillianne Hamilton’s sassy, fun and snarky storytelling with one of history’s most alluring eras. Focusing on the lives of the wives, and less about the dudes around them, The Lazy Historian’s Guide to the Wives of Henry VIII gives the six unfortunate queens the biography they almost certainly wouldn’t have asked for.

    In a life that foreshadowed that of her tragic, fascinating granddaughter Mary Queen of Scots, Margaret hurtled from one disaster to the next and ended her life abandoned by virtually everyone: a victim both of her own poor life choices and of the simmering hostility between her son, James V and her brother, Henry VIII.

    The people pitted themselves against Queen Elizabeth, questioning the monarchy and exploring republicanism. Amidst this tension, William Shakespeare published a pair of epic poems dedicated to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, which would quickly become bestsellers: Venus of Adonis in 1593 and The Rape of Lucrece one year later. Although wildly popular during Shakespeare's lifetime, both works are rarely studied today.To modern readers, the epics are meandering, dense, and seemingly uneventful. But in her engaging new book, leading Shakespearean scholar Clare Asquith reveals the provocative political message that would have been obvious and compelling to Shakespeare's contemporaneous readers: Just as Lucrece had been degraded, England had been violated by a turbulent and tyrannical monarchy. Henry VIII and his successors had stolen the property and possessions of the English people and their religious institutions--making away with 25,000 square miles of land and countless priceless pieces of art, jewelry, books, and more. At the heart of this cultural upheaval, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece gave England's restless and disenfranchised populous exactly what it was looking for: an authoritative historical analysis that justified--and even urged--direct action against the Tudors. A fascinating narrative history rooted in original scholarship and groundbreaking interpretations, Shakespeare and the Resistance is the definitive account of Shakespeare's political poems and the dramatic reactions they incited.