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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Wow, this book was full of history and a great read. I highly recommend it for readers that enjoy Scotland/Scottish history. There were times in which names and treaties got confusing but overall I enjoyed it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
This book took me a long time to read. But this was not bad as it is so dense and so fully descriptive. It has an incredible amount of information. I feel like I have learned so much about the eventful and tragic life of Mary Queen of Scots.
The research in this book is simply incredible. Such a wide time zone has been covered in such detail. It is truly an amazing piece of writing.
The research in this book is simply incredible. Such a wide time zone has been covered in such detail. It is truly an amazing piece of writing.
This is quite a tome. I've learned more about Mary, Queen of Scots than I ever expected. Unfortunately this happened by slogging through absolutely minute details of historical documents, notes, and letters that the author lays out again and again to explain his point of view. Obviously delving into actual historical sources is expected of a biography, but the way the author does it absolutely grinds his story to a halt as he will talk about an event in Mary's life and then spends the next 20-30 pages nitpicking through sources as he defends his opinion of Mary as a great but "unlucky" ruler. Perhaps I'm just more of a fan of biographies that manage to weave sources into a narrative instead--I was very much a fan of the intro chapter but sadly the rest of the book doesn't have the same tone at all. There's quite a bit of information here which is what the 3 stars are for and the scarce couple of chapters that are more narrative in nature are very well written, but I can't see myself reading this again.
informative
slow-paced
Very readable despite (or maybe due to?) being very detailed. Guy looks at all the rumors and fabrications past and present, and everything actually known, and presents us with a complex, powerful, heedless and occasionally hapless woman who to my mind could have been as effective as Elizabeth were it not for Elizabeth, Cecil, and perhaps the fact that she was born to rule a country so vastly different from the country and court she was raised in.
I found this in-depth biography absolutely fascinating. I love Tudor history, and of course I have read about Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots before. She has always been more of a background character in the books I've read. I knew the basic facts of her life and death and how she impacted the English monarchy, but there is a lot more to her than I expected. I had made a lot of assumptions regarding her and her actions as a queen.
John Guy goes through all of the contemperary records and evidence in an attempt to uncover the true Mary Stuart, who she was and why she did what she did. The motives, feelings, and etc. of historical figures is more often than not based on random facts gleaned from letters and a lot of conjecture. The facts surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots are highly debated, almost every book I have read has a different view on Mary, her reign, her marriages, her relationship with Queen Elizabeth, and her personality. I appreciate a historical biography that explains the reasoning behind it's assumptions.
John Guy goes through the existing evidence in an interesting and new way. He examines controversial issues from all sides, giving each of their "official" stories, and showing possible holes in their stories. Using documents from all sides of the issue to figure out the truth, or the most likely truth. An amazing book for anyone who likes history at all.
John Guy goes through all of the contemperary records and evidence in an attempt to uncover the true Mary Stuart, who she was and why she did what she did. The motives, feelings, and etc. of historical figures is more often than not based on random facts gleaned from letters and a lot of conjecture. The facts surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots are highly debated, almost every book I have read has a different view on Mary, her reign, her marriages, her relationship with Queen Elizabeth, and her personality. I appreciate a historical biography that explains the reasoning behind it's assumptions.
John Guy goes through the existing evidence in an interesting and new way. He examines controversial issues from all sides, giving each of their "official" stories, and showing possible holes in their stories. Using documents from all sides of the issue to figure out the truth, or the most likely truth. An amazing book for anyone who likes history at all.
The reader must be fully committed to this book because it is over 24 hours of listening. This new work with discovery is extremely detailed and is a comprehensive view of Mary's life, the personal, the geopolitical, and the monarchy. As i listened (I recommend the audio) i vacillated between anger, resentment and sadness at the treatment of this woman. ARGH the men, the men, the men. She was abused by every man in her life and she made poor choices in trusting people, most of whom were her advisers and acted against her rulings as queen. :-(
I cannot imagine how Mary maintained her courage and will to reign, except that, like Elizabeth, she believed in the divine ascendancy of the monarchy and her divine right to reign. If these 2 strong, brilliant women had forged an alliance, outside of the men who surrounded them, they might have ruled with equanimity, trusting each other in making the monumental decisions for the realm.
I cannot imagine how Mary maintained her courage and will to reign, except that, like Elizabeth, she believed in the divine ascendancy of the monarchy and her divine right to reign. If these 2 strong, brilliant women had forged an alliance, outside of the men who surrounded them, they might have ruled with equanimity, trusting each other in making the monumental decisions for the realm.
major takeaways: the movie was terribly boring for no reason! they left out all kind of dramatic and badass stuff from her life! like . also, mary was a great queen who did make a couple of mistakes but mainly her downfall was due to various men who never viewed or treated her with the authority and respect she deserved, probably mostly because of the patriarchy. so that's fun! (it is not fun). but this was a really interesting and thoroughly researched biography, and i would read another by the same author for sure.