Review Date: 2/22/2022

This book was very interesting as I didn't know much about any of these women except Tsarina Alexandra. A more comprehensive genealogical chart would have been helpful. Many siblings were mentioned with no place to look for them if you missed a passing reference earlier in the book. Also confusing was the use of more than one name for many people. She switched back and forth in the same paragraph as if she was talking about more than one person, but then I realized it was the same person. Several times I had to go back and hunt for the introduction to that person to find out if they really were the same person.

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Review Date: 5/16/2021

This is not the kind of objective history I am used to reading. Belloc is very biased with many errors of fact. I have been reading English history since I was in high school in the mid 1960s and I have never heard any hint that Henry VIII had syphilis nor read about any symptoms that would lead me to believe he had syphilis. They knew what syphilis was; Lord Darnley had it.
Belloc said Henry didn't really need a son as he had Mary and the example of a reigning queen in Isabella of Castile. That was Spain and England's only experience with a reigning queen had led to civil war. Henry needed a son. I am not fond of Henry and many of his actions. He was a spoiled brat, but on this he did have a point.
Belloc calls all Protestants Calvinist without real religious feeling and that the only thing motivating the Protestants was grabbing church land. Well, they did take church land, but that was far from the only factor. They were religious to an all consuming extent that we find hard to understand in the modern era. So were many Catholics.
Belloc calls Elizabeth's Chancellor William Cecil her puppet master. If he had been, Cecil would have had a lot less trouble getting Elizabeth to agree with him. She was a strong willed, highly intelligent woman, able to put England's needs before her own desires. The best queen England has ever had in my opinion.

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Review Date: 2/7/2014

Anyone interested in ancient history and historical methods should read this book.

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Review Date: 12/8/2015

I really like Robin McKinley's writing and this book was a good, sweet, gentle, great story until the very end when it just stopped in the middle of the crisis. I was so disappointed. This is why I gave it only three stars when I would have given it four or five. I read somewhere that this was supposed to be the first of two books as it got too long, but this was published in 2010 and still no second volume.

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Review Date: 8/5/2009

Helpful Score: 1

This is one of my all time favorite books. I don't know how many times I have read it. I admit that the way she learned the language was rather unbelievable for me as a language major, but hey, it's science fiction where we can have faster than light space ship drives.

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Review Date: 4/14/2009

This is a great story of determination in a classic hero quest. That it's about cats is a great plus for me. I've read this book a couple of times over the years. Definitely a keeper.

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Review Date: 1/18/2010

Helpful Score: 1

Having read Tudor history since I was in Jr Hi school (a long time ago), I simply can't believe Elizabeth was ever this whimpy. Yes, she loved Robert and yes, she wanted to marry him, but she didn't survive to 25 years old and become queen without being able to fend for herself. She was also not as dependent upon Robert for knowledge of court life as the book implies. She had been at court most of her life, off and on. Royal children had their own households but were at court for the great festivals then went home again when the King went on progress.

She did have trouble coming to a decision when all of the options were bad, but sometimes her ploy of changing her mind after the order was sent out was to make somebody else take the blame. Not very nice, but "nice" wasn't a quality she needed to survive the many hazards of her life.

I have enjoyed several other books in this series by Philippa Gregory, but skip this one.

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Review Date: 1/13/2020

This book was quite interesting, but I found so many factual errors in the areas I know best from 55 years of study that I can't vouch for the areas I know less well.

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Review Date: 1/30/2009

Helpful Score: 3

I really liked this book even though it is confusing keeping track of who becomes whom. The second time I read it I made myself a chart of the characters. I never did figure out the meaning of the title. Anybody have any ideas?

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