Queens of England
by Norah Lofts
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Description
Discusses the personal and public lives of women who have been English queens, from Boadicea in the first century to the present Queen Elizabeth II.Tags
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Queens of England by Norah Lofts is a comprehensive overview of every Queen of England beginning with the wife of William the Conqueror and going through Queen Elizabeth II. It was a remarkably easy read, considering it comprises about 900 years of English royal history. It was also a very engaging read, I learned about many queens I had never heard of, the wives of many kings I had never heard of.
The book definitely had an agenda. While it didn’t ruin the book for me, it definitely dampened my enthusiasm for the the work a little. When I noticed the chapters on each queen start to get much longer shortly before the reign of Queen Victoria (as many pages on Caroline of Brunswick as Elizabeth Tudor? And as many on Charlotte of show more Mecklenburg-Strelitz as Mary Tudor? Really?), I thought that I detected a 19th and 20th century bias. By the time I reached Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II, I realized that a ‘recent history bias’ wasn’t quite what the issue was. The book actually seems to have been written as an apologetic for the modern institution of the monarchy, to establish the long history of English royalty and in doing so argue for its continuation in the person of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, even with this problem, and a few others, Queens of England is a book I would recommend to anyone with an interest in royalty, the history of England, or just of the lives of women throughout history.
For the whole review: http://devourerofbooks.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/queens-of-england-book-review/ show less
The book definitely had an agenda. While it didn’t ruin the book for me, it definitely dampened my enthusiasm for the the work a little. When I noticed the chapters on each queen start to get much longer shortly before the reign of Queen Victoria (as many pages on Caroline of Brunswick as Elizabeth Tudor? And as many on Charlotte of show more Mecklenburg-Strelitz as Mary Tudor? Really?), I thought that I detected a 19th and 20th century bias. By the time I reached Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II, I realized that a ‘recent history bias’ wasn’t quite what the issue was. The book actually seems to have been written as an apologetic for the modern institution of the monarchy, to establish the long history of English royalty and in doing so argue for its continuation in the person of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, even with this problem, and a few others, Queens of England is a book I would recommend to anyone with an interest in royalty, the history of England, or just of the lives of women throughout history.
For the whole review: http://devourerofbooks.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/queens-of-england-book-review/ show less
While I love love love reading about the queens of England, esp. since they often get overlooked, the author is pretty judgy. She says there's nothing remarkable about Queen Anne (not true) and that some queens were bad mothers (uh, yeah, it was the style at the time to give your child to a wet nurse and ignore it). But it was written in the 70s, so what are you gonna do?
This book offers short biographies, no more than 5 pages for the most part, of the distaff side of the throne, plus those women who actually ruled. The book is well researched, but by nature lacks depth.
I read this so many years ago that I can't even remember it but I think I'd like to read it again.
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Author Information
84+ Works 6,088 Members
Celebrated novelist Norah Lofts perfected the art of bringing the past alive in her works of historical fiction. She remains one of England's most distinguished and best loved women of letters, selling more than a million books and captivating generations of readers. Lofts' first novel, "I Met a Gypsy", won the American Booksellers' Award for show more 1935. In her long and prolific career, she wrote more than 60 books of nonfiction, biography and historical fiction, animating history and yet preserving historical accuracy. In works such as "Scent of Cloves" (1940), "Bless This House" (1954), and "Crown of Aloes" (1979), period detail and language are blended with a masterful storytelling technique. Lofts is also well known for biographical novels about great and fascinating women of history such as Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon. In addition, Lofts has written thrillers under the pseudonym Peter Curtis and novels as Juliet Astley. Norah (Robinson) Lofts was born in Norfolk, England on August 27, 1904. She credited her history-teaching years, 1925 to 1936, for developing a sense of history which became the foundation for her writings. Married and the mother of two sons, she lived in an ancient English city, among medieval ruins, in a 250-year-old house. She died there on September 10, 1983. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1977
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 941.00992 — History & geography History of Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles Geographic treatment, biography Collected persons
- LCC
- DA28.2 .L6 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Great Britain History of Great Britain England History General
Statistics
- Members
- 258
- Popularity
- 125,146
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.91)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 4
