The Tudors Lady Jane Grey To Elizabeth I: The Complete Story Of England's Most Notorious Dynasty (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This was an extensive, yet simplified, history of the Tudor reign from Henry VII to Elizabeth I. The author was very detailed in his history of the English Reformation, but I think his views on European diplomacy were biased based on his personal opinion of the monarchs. To be short, he very obviously does not approve of Elizabeth I's reign and I think that he was very unfair in the way that he portrayed her decisions. I think some amount of bias is acceptable in historical writings (it is almost impossible to avoid) but this author repeatedly made broad negative statements without providing historical evidence to support his claims. Overall, I would not recommend this book. Update: I won't make this a long, rambling review with too many details (sometimes that takes the joy out of reading the book). I loved this book! It's not the most "complete" story in the fact that it doesn't delve into a lot of detail where it could, but it IS complete in the sense that it spans the whole Tudor dynasty, and strips it to the bone with enough detail for a basic understanding of the times with a new, fresh perspective, dispelling the deplorable lack of accuracy that this time period is often dealt with in the entertainment industry. Highly recommended for anyone starting out on their discovery of Tudor history!!My opinion a little over halfway through:Really enjoying this book so far. It's an engaging, addictive read that I can't put down. However, I'm inclined to agree with other reviews that, unlike its title suggests, it is by no means the 'complete story'. Even though anyone wanting to learn more about England's most notorious royal family could pick it up, one would definitely benefit from having a prior knowledge of Tudor history. Due to the skimming in some parts, if I wasn't fairly familiar with the story, I'd definitely be lost on some of the issues and people involved. Halfway done and most of the book has been focused on Henry VIII, who, to be fair, did set most of the tone for the ill-fated family, and I quite enjoyed the chronological presentation of his reign...until the last chapter of part two. The last chapter is sort of discombobulated to me. There, the author starts jumping around through the events of the last few years of Henry's reign and deviates from the well-structured chronology that dictates the first half of the book. To me, the jumping back and forth underplays some of the most shocking and impacting events of Henry's last few years (like, *spoiler alert* lol, the execution of Cromwell). But so far, I have very much enjoyed it and have enjoyed seeing the Tudors from yet another viewpoint. And the author's writing style is very easy and accessible. Can't wait to read the rest.
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Excellent portrait of the facets that have formulated English culture!
—Sri
The Tudors were not half as bad as you think, they were twice as bad.
—desmagic8
