Tudor, Leanda de Lisle
Tudor, Leanda de Lisle
8 Rating(s)
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Tudor
Passion. Manipulation. Murder. The Story of England's Most Notorious Royal Family

Author: Leanda de Lisle

Narrator: Tavia Gilbert

Unabridged: 16 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 04/01/2016


Synopsis

The Tudors are England’s most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle’s gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew.

The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family’s obscure Welsh origins, the ordinary man known as Owen Tudor who would fall (literally) into a Queen’s lap—and later her bed. It passes by the courage of Margaret Beaufort, the pregnant thirteen-year-old girl who would help found the Tudor dynasty, and the childhood and painful exile of her son, the future Henry VII. It ignores the fact that the Tudors were shaped by their past—those parts they wished to remember and those they wished to forget.

By creating a full family portrait set against the background of this past, de Lisle enables us to see the Tudor dynasty in its own terms, and presents new perspectives and revelations on key figures and events. De Lisle discovers a family dominated by remarkable women doing everything possible to secure its future; shows why the princes in the Tower had to vanish; and reexamines the bloodiness of Mary’s reign, Elizabeth’s fraught relationships with her cousins, and the true significance of previously overlooked figures. Throughout the Tudor story, Leanda de Lisle emphasizes the supreme importance of achieving peace and stability in a violent and uncertain world, and of protecting and securing the bloodline.

Tudor is bristling with religious and political intrigue but at heart is a thrilling story of one family’s determined and flamboyant ambition.

About Leanda de Lisle

Leanda de Lisle, a former freelance writer, has written columns for Country Life, the Sunday Express, the Daily Express, the Spectator, the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Sunday Telegraph, and the New Statesman. She is the author of After Elizabeth, which focuses on the period between March 1603, when Elizabeth I died, to July 1603, when James VI of Scotland was crowned James I of England.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Pam on February 04, 2020

An interesting book which takes the approach of going back to the earlier characters in the story of the Tudor family, starting with Owen Tudor who married the widowed Queen of France after a wild dance leap landed him in her lap! The book goes through each of the personnel, giving a good insight es......more

Goodreads review by Helen on January 11, 2020

Nothing new in this one but an interesting and entertaining read none the less. My only gripe with this one just like most books about the Tudors is the lesser known family members get shoved to the sidelines and barely get a mention.......more

Goodreads review by Candice on April 07, 2023

A long read, but excellent research. Together with the notes and appendices, this is the most “definitive” book covering the Tudors.......more