Books/Movies on the Tudors and Plantagenets

[helenazar]

Glenda Jackson... also played Elizabeth to Vanessa Redgrave's Mary Queen of Scots in the movie of the same name.

But minus the fake nose  .

[Prince_Lieven]

Oh no! Why    

Just one reason, methinks - $$$  

[Kimberly]

Oh dear, I wasn't to keen on that film altho I think Cate Blanchette is stunning I'm not too keen on her Elizabeth.
Maybe she will borrow Helen Mirren's wobbly schnoz especially for Helen A

[helenazar]

Maybe she will borrow Helen Mirren's wobbly schnoz especially for Helen A

Or she could use Glends Jackson's from Elizabeth R. - either one will do!  

[bell_the_cat]

Has anyone read "Elizabeth, Captive Princess" by Margaret Irwin? It was the first historical novel I ever read! I think it's from the 1950s. It's about Elizabeth in the reign of Mary.

[Vicki]

Yes, I've read "Elizabeth, Captive Princess" as well as Margaret Irwin's other two novels, "Young Bess" and "Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain".  They're among my favorite historical novels about the Tudors.

[Prince_Lieven]

Hey, I was just wondering, has anyone here read all three 'Six Wives' books - Fraser's, Weir's and Starkey's?

I read Fraser's and really enjoyed it, so I thought investing in one of the others would be a waste of money. But can anyone recommend either of them? Perhaps I can find them cheap somewhere, and it might be worth it . . .

[Elisabeth]

I think Weir's is definitely worth it, because I like her style of writing and her research is as always very thorough. Starkey's book I would ordinarily recommend, because he is even more thorough, but I think he spends too much time on the Divorce and at times the narrative really lags... He said that his intention in writing his Six Wives was to devote just as much time to each wife as they had actually earned in Henry's lifetime... which sounds good in print but doesn't necessarily make for a very exciting book. Thus Catherine of Aragon's is the longest section, Anne Boleyn's the next longest, and you can work out the rest. If you are willing to splurge, however, I think Starkey's book is worth the boring longueurs because a very clear picture of Anne Boleyn as a beautiful, sexy, brilliant, scheming little minx (a true credit to the Boleyn name) does emerge, in no small part because he quotes a lot from her surviving letters.  

[Prince_Lieven]

Thanks Elisabeth!

I've heard that Starkey gives a rather revolutionary view of Catherine of Aragon, saying she was not really the saint most people think, and was just as involved in political intrigue as her successor. When he came under fire for this, he defended himself by saying that Catherine would have been stupid to have had no political awareness in Tudor England.

I thougt his book might be a bit drab, since he isn't a very humourous person. Fraser intersperses the odd little joke - like when she refers to Henry as (I think) 'the villainous maypoll around which all these women had to dance'.  

[Elisabeth]

LOL, Prince! I admit I haven't read Fraser's book - an oversight on my part, perhaps, but then, there are so many "Six Wives" books out there right now, perhaps I can be forgiven????

It's true that Starkey is not overly sympathetic to Catherine of Aragon, an approach which I rather liked, as a matter of fact. It makes a nice change from the usual fawning treatment of the Spanish princess. Starkey points out that early on in the divorce proceedings even Rome suggested that Catherine enter a convent in order to resolve the sticky situation, but she categorically refused. (BTW, Mary's position as princess would not have been in the least affected by such a change in Catherine's status.)

I guess what it comes down to is that if you want a well-paced narrative, read Weir. If you want technical detail, read Starkey. The former is more accessible to most readers, the latter more scholarly (but it still suffers from a certain lack of organization, IMO, and a very abrupt ending - I think he could have used a better editor).  

[Prince_Lieven]

We forgive you Elisabeth!  

But I heartily recommend Fraser's book. I don't think it will tell you anything you didn't know already, but if you see it in a library or something, I would advise getting it. I think she is farely unbiased and impartial with all the wives, and my only complaint is there is a little too much attention given to Catherine of Aragon's time as Dowager Princess of Wales during Henry VII's reign, and her money problems etc, which becomes a little tedious - still a wonderful read, though not her best (that honour I reserve for Marie-Antoinette: the Journey).

[Kimberly]

I have all three and they are all a little different. Weir is getting a bit tatty and I quite like Frasers but Starkey's version has that slight edge to it that I like.

[bell_the_cat]

Yes, I've read "Elizabeth, Captive Princess" as well as Margaret Irwin's other two novels, "Young Bess" and "Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain".  They're among my favorite historical novels about the Tudors.

Thanks Vicki for reminding me that it was a trilogy. I've only read one of the books though. Elizabeth spends the whole of the first chapter in bed, scoffing sweetmeats!

[Prince_Lieven]

Elizabeth spends the whole of the first chapter in bed, scoffing sweetmeats!

Nice work, if you can get it.  

[Kimberly]

Dear boy, isn't that what you are doing all this week  
I have just received my umpteenth copy of Rosemary Hawley Jarman's  A Crown in Candlelight about Katherine de Valois. It covers her childhood in France, her marriage with Henry V and her " liason" with Owen Tudor. I highly recommend it,it is exceptionally well researched and beautifully written ( and it only cost me £5 from Amazon )