A review by goodqueenbess
The Private Lives of the Tudors by Tracy Borman

4.0

if someone came up to me today and asked about a good started to the tudors - i'd happily point them in the direction of this book. borman makes a watertight introduction to the infamous english dynasty as people-first, politicans-second and how those ideas came into play with eachother. it's a good guide of showcasing the changes each monarch brought with their reign and the affect it had on culture, food, fashion and power within the court. it's also full of wonderful anecdotes and stories that bring these figures and the people who surrounded them to life: how henry viii's underwear would have been laundered, mary i's intriguing eating habits (or lack thereof) and elizabeth i's jealousy over a ladies maid's dress all paint these historical giants as people and gain an insight into how they ruled the country. you're not going to find a lot of politics within this book, nor extensive detail that is typical of biographers like starkey - it's more a casual stride through the reigns and notable moments of each ruler rather than the same political scandals that seem to come to mind whenever we hear 'tudor'.

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