Search results for ""author mickey mayhew""

Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots covers the lives and careers of the men and women who 'kept' Mary Queen of Scots whilst she was a political prisoner in England, circa 1568 -1587. Mary's troubled claim to the English throne - much to the consternation of her 'dear cousin' Elizabeth I - made her a mortal enemy of the aforementioned Virgin Queen and set them on a collision course from which only one would survive. Mary's calamitous personal life, encompassing assassinations, kidnaps and abdications, sent her careering into England and right into the lap of Henry VIII's shrewd but insecure daughter. Having no choice but to keep Mary under lock and key, Elizabeth trusted this onerous task to some of the most capable - not to mention the richest - men and women in England; Sir Francis Knollys, Rafe Sadler (of Wolf Hall fame), the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, and finally, the puritanical nit-picker Sir Amyas Paulet. Until now, these nobles have been mere bit-players in Mary's story; now, their own lives, loves and fortunes are laid bare for all to see. From Carlisle Castle to Fotheringhay, these loyal subjects all but bankrupted themselves in keeping the deposed Scots queen in the style to which she was accustomed, whilst fending off countless escape plots of which Mary herself was often the author. With the sort of twist that history excels at, it was actually a honeytrap escape plot set up by Elizabeth's ministers that finally saw Mary brought to the executioner's block, but what of the lives of the gaolers who acted as her guardian? This book explains how Shrewsbury and Bess saw their marriage wrecked by Mary's legendary charms, and how Paulet ended up making a guest appearance on 'Most Haunted', some several hundred years after his death. In that theme, the book also covers the appearances of these men and women on film and TV, in novels and also the various other Mary-related media that keeps the legend of this most misunderstood of monarchs so perfectly simmering.

Read more less

RASPUTIN'S RELATIONSHIP with Russia's last Tsarina, Alexandra, notorious from the famous Boney M song, has never been adequately addressed; biographies are always for one or the other, or simply Alexandra and her husband Nicholas. In this new work, Mickey Mayhew reimagines Alexandra for the #MeToo generation; 'neurotic'; 'hysterical'; 'credulous' and 'fanatical' are shunted aside in favour of a sympathetic reimagining of a reserved and pious woman tossed into the heart of Russian aristocracy, with the sole purpose of providing their patriarchal monarchy with an heir. When her longed-for son then developed haemophilia, she turned to the one man capable of curing the child's agonising pain - Grigory Rasputin. Some say that between them, Grigory and Alexandra brought down 300 years of Romanov rule and ushered in the Russian Revolution, but theirs was simply the story of a mother fighting for the health of her son against a backdrop of bigotry, sexism and increasing secularism. She liked to pray and he liked to party, but when they found themselves steering Russia through the First World War, her gender and his class gave society no option but to destroy them. Bubbling with his trademark bon mots, Mickey Mayhew's latest book breathes fresh life into two of history's most fascinating - and polarising - figures. This is the real story of Rasputin and his Russian Queen.

Read more less

Henry VII’s father died in prison before he was born. Henry VIII was too fat to walk down the stairs. Mary Queen of Scots was almost killed by an earthquake at Sheffield Castle. Elizabeth I wore poisonous makeup. This fun little book, containing 400 fantastic facts about the Tudor era and more than 100 illustrations, will delight Tudor fans everywhere!

Read more less

Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps one of the most controversial and divisive monarchs in regal history. Her story reads like a particularly spicy novel, with murder, kidnap, adultery, assassination and execution. To some she is one of the most wronged women in history, a pawn used and abused by her family in the great monarchical marriage game; to others, a murderous adulteress who committed regicide to marry her lover and then spent years in captivity for the crime, endlessly plotting the demise of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.This book covers the breathtaking scope of her amazing life and examines the immense cultural legacy she left behind, from the Schiller play of the 1800s to The CW teen drama Reign. Temptress, terrorist, or tragic queen, this book will give you the lowdown on one of history’s most misunderstood monarchs.

Read more less

Gruesome but not gratuitous, this decidedly darker take on the Tudors, from 1485 to 1603, covers some forty-five events' from the Tudor reign, taking in everything from the death of Richard III to the botched execution of Mary Queen of Scots, and a whole host of horrors in between. Particular attention is paid to the various gruesome ways in which the Tudors despatched their various villains and lawbreakers, from simple beheadings, to burnings and of course the dreaded hanging, drawing and quartering. Other chapters cover the various diseases prevalent during Tudor times, including the dreaded Sweating Sickness' -rather topical at the moment, unfortunately -as well as the cures for these sicknesses, some of which were considered worse than the actual disease itself. The day-to-day living conditions of the general populace are also examined, as well as various social taboos and the punishments that accompanied them, i.e. the stocks, as well as punishment by exile. Tudor England was not a nice place to live by 21st century standards, but the book will also serve to explain how it was still nevertheless a familiar home to our ancestors.

Read more less