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freckleduck's review against another edition
2.0
I had a hard time reading this book. The accounts appeared mostly speculative, and I do not know enough about this period to assess their accuracy. I would not read this book again.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
I have actually never reviewed non-fiction before, and in the end I have not read much either, since my non-fiction mostly consists of uni textbooks (and none that exciting as this one). After having read all 3 books by Philippa Gregory it was interesting to read this book since this one is all fact and thoughts about these three women. But how to review is the question. I can't say I did not like something that happens since it is what happened. So I looked at is this way, was it boring and made me fall asleep? The question to that is no. It was never dry.
Philippa Gregory has written the first part about Jacquetta and she tells the story from cradle to grave. The little that is known about this fascinating woman. I do love any woman who went her on way at a time where your father, husband, brother or king ruled you. Sure many other women went their own way, but I just like how she married so far beneath her status, she must have loved him so and I am a sucker for that.
The next part is by David Baldwin and he tells the story about Elizabeth Woodville. I will always like the Woodville family and they are just so slandered, it is horrible. They were certainly not the first family to gain lands, titles and money when someone from their family caught a king's eye. And even if her husband was a terrible womanizer I will always like their story, lust at first sight ;)
The last part is by Michael Jones and it is about Margaret Beaufort (whom I called the bitch in The Red Queen). It is strange to say that you do not like someone that has lived and you have never met, but I just do not like it (but her story is a good one), and I certainly do not like her son Henry Tudor. Lol, I have a strange aversion for all the Tudors for some reason. Well starting from Henry. Oh and I am sure these two killed the princes in the tower, ok, I am just blaming them since I dislike them.
All in all 3 good authors writing about 3 interesting women, that history has vilified or as with Margaret made all saintly and good. It is not perhaps a book you read at once. No, you can read one section and then read another another day. History is not going anywhere.
Conclusion:
A good book to read after reading this series, or a good book to make you want to read the Cousin's War books.
Philippa Gregory has written the first part about Jacquetta and she tells the story from cradle to grave. The little that is known about this fascinating woman. I do love any woman who went her on way at a time where your father, husband, brother or king ruled you. Sure many other women went their own way, but I just like how she married so far beneath her status, she must have loved him so and I am a sucker for that.
The next part is by David Baldwin and he tells the story about Elizabeth Woodville. I will always like the Woodville family and they are just so slandered, it is horrible. They were certainly not the first family to gain lands, titles and money when someone from their family caught a king's eye. And even if her husband was a terrible womanizer I will always like their story, lust at first sight ;)
The last part is by Michael Jones and it is about Margaret Beaufort (whom I called the bitch in The Red Queen). It is strange to say that you do not like someone that has lived and you have never met, but I just do not like it (but her story is a good one), and I certainly do not like her son Henry Tudor. Lol, I have a strange aversion for all the Tudors for some reason. Well starting from Henry. Oh and I am sure these two killed the princes in the tower, ok, I am just blaming them since I dislike them.
All in all 3 good authors writing about 3 interesting women, that history has vilified or as with Margaret made all saintly and good. It is not perhaps a book you read at once. No, you can read one section and then read another another day. History is not going anywhere.
Conclusion:
A good book to read after reading this series, or a good book to make you want to read the Cousin's War books.
susannavs's review against another edition
3.0
It was a bit confusing to read the biographies separately because they covered some of the same years and had the same people, so reading from the various Yorkist, Lancastrian and Lancastrian-turned-Yorkist perspectives made it hard to keep everyone in their proper place! But I enjoyed reading about the War of the Roses from the women's side. Now to read Philippa Gregory's fictional accounts!
snowblu3's review against another edition
5.0
There are three chapters -- one per woman discussed. I only read the one about Elizabeth Woodville, since I'm writing my senior thesis paper about her. But it's shaping up to be a good source, so I'm satisfied.
amsleykate's review against another edition
5.0
So good. Being a Philippa Gregory fan and a HUGE history buff- this was such a nice way of tying in all of the women from her novels. It is a sort of side-by-side comparison of each biography. Wonderful read.
angelofthetardis's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Philippa Gregory's 'Cousins' War' series of novels is a tour de force at shining a light on the women that were the powers behind thrones during the Wars of the Roses. But, of course, her books are historical fiction and so there is an aspect of imagination and speculation that renders their historical accuracy questionable. So, to help separate the fact from the fluff, she partnered with two other eminent historians to produce mini biographies of the three main protagonists; Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford; Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England; and Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.
The three writers are very careful not to needlessly repeat each other where events intersect, but equally repeat enough of the necessary information so that you can easily fit these women's lives together and follow the path of the war from each side. As a result, each biography is an incredibly interesting read on its own, but when put together it gives you a credible and easily digestible overview of the whole peiod.
Of course, they are not to the same depth that you would expect from a full scholarly work; indeed, I'd be very interested to read a full biography of Jacquetta if Gregory wrote it and I was actually shocked to learn that one doesn't already exist! This does mean that feel like they only skim the surface and feel a bit 'half hearted' for my taste.
In some ways, the fictional novels do give more depth to their characters and bring them to life a bit more. There are two sides to this for me. On the downside, where women are so often expunged from the historical record and then 'rediscovered' in fiction, it seems that it's these fictionalised versions that are carried forward into the future and very quickly the fiction is mistaken for fact. However, these fictionalised histories do then seem to encourage historians to explore and publish non-fiction biographies. And either way, their stories are being added into the wider narrative, which can only be a good thing!
This book does seem like an attempt by Gregory to draw a line clear distinction between the fiction of her novels and TV dramas and the real history, and is clearly written for that audience; there are no footnotes or other scholarly interjections, just a list of sources at the end of each essay. But I have to wonder how wide-reaching this book became compared to the novels and TV series, and therefore how successful it was at igniting an interest in the real women. Yes, it absolutely worked on me, but I'm in love with this period of history anyway.
I think Gregory has a real skill and flair for historical fiction writing (she's introduced me to some of my favourite historical characters and periods!), but I feel like she should perhaps be signposting her readers to fuller non-fiction biographies of her characters at the end of each book, which would probably serve her readers better.
The three writers are very careful not to needlessly repeat each other where events intersect, but equally repeat enough of the necessary information so that you can easily fit these women's lives together and follow the path of the war from each side. As a result, each biography is an incredibly interesting read on its own, but when put together it gives you a credible and easily digestible overview of the whole peiod.
Of course, they are not to the same depth that you would expect from a full scholarly work; indeed, I'd be very interested to read a full biography of Jacquetta if Gregory wrote it and I was actually shocked to learn that one doesn't already exist! This does mean that feel like they only skim the surface and feel a bit 'half hearted' for my taste.
In some ways, the fictional novels do give more depth to their characters and bring them to life a bit more. There are two sides to this for me. On the downside, where women are so often expunged from the historical record and then 'rediscovered' in fiction, it seems that it's these fictionalised versions that are carried forward into the future and very quickly the fiction is mistaken for fact. However, these fictionalised histories do then seem to encourage historians to explore and publish non-fiction biographies. And either way, their stories are being added into the wider narrative, which can only be a good thing!
This book does seem like an attempt by Gregory to draw a line clear distinction between the fiction of her novels and TV dramas and the real history, and is clearly written for that audience; there are no footnotes or other scholarly interjections, just a list of sources at the end of each essay. But I have to wonder how wide-reaching this book became compared to the novels and TV series, and therefore how successful it was at igniting an interest in the real women. Yes, it absolutely worked on me, but I'm in love with this period of history anyway.
I think Gregory has a real skill and flair for historical fiction writing (she's introduced me to some of my favourite historical characters and periods!), but I feel like she should perhaps be signposting her readers to fuller non-fiction biographies of her characters at the end of each book, which would probably serve her readers better.
alice94's review against another edition
4.0
This book is written like an essay on the history of England just prior to the Tudor times, however it is written to give the reader and overview of what the lives of the royalty in those times was like with the idea that you will read the remainder of her books in order to dive deeper into the story.
It is not like the normal story that is written by the author as they are usually more along the lines of a diary of the royal household where as this gives the story more depth and understanding from a less fictional perspective. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested is the royal households and would like to learn more about the women behind powerful men who run the country.
It is not like the normal story that is written by the author as they are usually more along the lines of a diary of the royal household where as this gives the story more depth and understanding from a less fictional perspective. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested is the royal households and would like to learn more about the women behind powerful men who run the country.
emflibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent book on three women largely forgotten by history, and yet influenced it greatly. Excellent for English History lovers.