Queen of Scots

Name: Queen of Scots
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: John Guy
ISBN: 9780060778545

Author: John Guy

Narrator: John Guy

Abridged: 5 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 06/15/2004

Categories: Nonfiction, History, European History, Women, World History

Synopsis

An intimate, myth-shattering new biography of Mary Queen of Scots by a premier historian that draws on a trove of newly discovered sources.Queen of Scots, the first full-scale biography of Mary in more than thirty years, offers a singularly novel, nuanced, and dramatic portrait of one of history’s greatest women.John Guy draws on sources -- many previously unstudied -- as varied as the secret communiques of English spies and Mary's own letters. Dispelled is the ingrained popular image of Mary as a romantic leading lady, achieving her ends through feminine wiles, driven by love to murder, undone by passion and bad judgment. We come to see her as an emotionally intricate woman and an adroit diplomat, maneuvering ingeniously among a dizzying array of factions who sought to control or dethrone her. Guy's investigation of Mary's storied downfall throws sharp new light on questions that have baffled historians for centuries, and offers convincing new evidence that she was framed for the murder for which she was beheaded.

About John Guy

John Guy is an award-winning historian; an accomplished broadcaster; a fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge; and the author of Mary Queen of Scots, which won the Whitbread Award for Biography and the Marsh Biography Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Biography. He has contributed to numerous BBC programs and has written for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday, the Economist, the Literary Review, the Times Literary Supplement, and the London Review of Books.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Alice on June 29, 2017

I've given this book 5 full stars. It took me an inordinate amount of time to finish it due to the humongous cast of characters and the tangled relationships that the Tudor and Stuart family trees exhibit. Now that the reading is done, I can say that I’m truly impressed by this luminous, expertly re......more

Goodreads review by fourtriplezed on February 09, 2017

To say this was a sympathetic biography of Mary Queen of Scots would do an injustice to the word sympathetic. I hate to use the word hagiography but this is as close as it gets. The author is a specialist in Tudor history and is to be respected but I have come away from this very readable book, and......more

Goodreads review by Ken on January 29, 2019

I’d planned to read this prior to the movie release, but it soon became apparent with the level of in-depth research on a complicated period in British history that I wouldn’t finish this in time. That’s a massive compliment to the author, it’s a time that I’m overly familiar with and with each chapt......more

Goodreads review by Colleen on May 25, 2020

In a word, this book is brilliant! The breadth of research and expertise in writing makes this the best book I have read in quite a while. John Guy plumbed the depths of the archives to discover new evidence about Mary and constructed a great book. His attention to detail and writing ability makes i......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on August 01, 2009

Interesting insight on what Mary was really like but the author is VERY biased in her favour and bends over backwards to show her in a favourable light, often to the detriment of others. I wonder how he feels about the recent revelations by medical historians that for it to be apparent that Mary had......more