I recently purchased The Tudors For Dummies. I must say, it is a handy little reference book for a quick fact checker and to find out what happened when and why. Has anybody else purchased the book and find it useful as a stepping stone to learning?

Still reading Alison Weir's Innocent Traitor. Still enjoying it, Katherine Parr just kicked the bucket. Really looking forward to learning about Jane's life just before she became Queen.

I just watched The Lovely Bones too, and found myself wishing I had read the book before seeing the film.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Hero, the life and legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda

The first one I've wanted to read for a long time.The second was a new book in my local library and with my WWI intereast I couldn't pass up.

Finished She-Wolves: the Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth yesterday (author Helen Castor) and I recommend it to anyone interested in Queens of England who were a bit more than just “plain old” consorts.

I got some new insight into Eleanor of Acquitaine (and I wish someone would do a movie that gives us something beyond The Lion in Winter, which is brilliant but just centers around that one bit of a life that ran roughly 70 or 80 decades!!); I was fascinated by Isabella, wife of Edward II, who has much more depth than we get in the fictionalized Braveheart (and I also got more information about her husband's reign than I had known). Henry VI's Margaret — wow. Talk about being in a near-thankless task of trying to secure a throne for a mentally ill husband and a juvenile Prince of Wales…and then to see it all crash down around her head in a matter of weeks. (LOL I almost said it was fairly Shakespearean — and then wondered how Shakespeare did treat her). Oh and good grief — I forgot about Henry I's daughter Matilda, who should have been the first ruling queen of England — had it not been for those thinking that a woman couldn't rule; I had no idea she was an Empress (and now I understand why — in The Lion in Winter — Henry II referred to himself as Henry Fitz-Empress. I always used to go “Uh…huh?” LOL) 

And this Tudor buff also learned a couple of new things:

— On Edward VI's death, all of the most serious claimants to the English throne were female. I had never thought about that before. You had (thanks to Edward's Device for the Succession, the disinherited) Princesses Mary and Elizabeth; Lady Jane Grey, her mother Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, setting aside her claim; and Mary Queen of Scots.

— Ms. Castor offers some additional insight on why Mary Tudor possibly chose Phillip of Spain for a husband — and it was not all just a passion for her mother's homeland or falling in love with Phillip's portrait. It had to do with him being her equal in terms of a ruler. Mary was a full ruler in every meaning, just as her father and grandfather had been; she was not simply a Queen Consort. So that meant that — according to Ms. Castor — marrying someone like an Edward Courtney would have been beneath her in some aspects because even with his Plantagenet blood, he was not an equal. Whereas Phillip (who had a title of King in I think Naples and Jerusalem) was considered moreso. I had never considered that aspect before so it was an interesting speculation.

Anyway, good book. Now what to read next

I'm in the midst of reading Rory Clements second Tudor thriller titled Revenger. It's a fun read. I need it since I'm suffering from a summer cold. Yuck!

Anyanka, I hope you enjoyed Rebecca. It's one of my all time favs too.

Tina, thanks for the recommendation. I shall try and get my hands on this book.

I was writing my post in a hurry (had to leave for an appointment) and just realized I wrote 70 or 80 decades when referring to Eleanor of Acquitaine. Hey, I know she was remarkable, but maybe not THAT remarkable! LOL I meant to say 7 or 8 decades.

I hope I'm as active as she was near the end of her life, when she was still crossing mountain ranges and going on diplomatic missions covering hundreds of miles.

Anyanka — you enjoy Rebecca and then definitely, most definitely rent Hitchc*ck's movie, which leaves out a few things…and I imagine that was because of the Hays Code.

I still think Mrs. Danvers would make Darth Vader quake in his big black boots! I rank her among the most wicked and/or evil characters in fiction. And seeing Judith Anderson's portrayal in the movie version is enough to terrify you. What a great actress.

I'll have to check that one out Sharon — thanks for the recommendation. (Just found it on Book of the Month Club too and I've got a couple of deals I can use to get it. Like I need another book LOL).

You're right — these women are amazing. Even when the “media” of the time was criticizing the Empress Matilda — Henry I's daughter and heir — for not being womanly enough, they still managed to praise Mathilde, queen consort of King Stephen, when she stood up for her husband. And Isabella shows how an individual can rise above adversity — and then be corrupted by power. Here was a woman (well, at the time of her marriage, a very young girl) who saw Edward II put up his arms with those of his male lover at the wedding supper while his wife's — a Princess of France — were nowhere to be seen; who managed to trick her husband in order to protect the rights of her son, and was heralded as she and her own lover returned to England to overthrow Edward. Unfortunately, all that goodwill got spent when she and Roger Mortimer became corrupt as well. Hey, I enjoyed Braveheart but Isabella's story is pretty darn amazing too, and a whole lot more interesting than the fiction we saw in the movie.

Eleanor of Acquitaine will forever amaze me. My intro to her was of course through The Lion in Winter but there was so much more to her story. And I liked how in the final chapter, in a small way, Castor ties in the fates of Matilda, Eleanor, Mary I and then Elizabeth — and it made me think of the one regret I have in Elizabeth not marrying: that her father's line ended with her. It'd be interesting to wonder what a child of Elizabeth and the grandchild of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII would have been like.

Sharon said:

I have the book called “Queen Consorts,” by Lisa Hilton. It sounds similar to Tina's book.  It covers the medievil consorts starting with Matilda of Flanders.  William the Conqueror's wife.   I can't read it all at once, and I skip around a lot. These women are absolutely amazing. 

Briefly a story about Matilda: A story in the Chronicle of Tours claims that when William asked her to be his bride, she angrily retorted that she would never marry a bastard.  William then forced himself into her bedroom and beat her. 

Another version has William dragging her off her horse and 'pursuing his rough courtship in the roadside mud.' Matilda was supposedly so overcome by this act, she took to her bed and said she would not marry anyone else.

Which one is true, if either, we cannot know.  But William certainly married up.  She was a descendant of Charlemagne, the Saxon king Alfred the Great and her mother was a daughter of the King of France.

The book is full of these little anecdotes.  It's a fun read.

Nothing to do with the Tudors- but another time of crisis I've recently become interested in- the anti-slavery struggle. I just finished THE LIFE AND TIMES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, one of the most touching and inspiring books I've read in a long time. It is available for free download on Google Books: 

http://books.google.com/books?…..38;f=false

I love free downloads! The only problem is I get headaches reading whole books on the computer, and printing it all off uses up too much ink and paper.

Frederick Douglass seems to have been a very noble and kindhearted person, who cared deeply for the elevation of his people. I also admired his willingness to learn and to change his views when appropriate. After escaping from a harsh life as a slave in Maryland, as a young man, he became a follower of William Lloyd Garrison, believing that the U.S. Constitution, since it allowed for slavery in the South, was a pro-slavery document, and, therefore, that any participation in the American political system was morally wrong. Abolitionists, he thought, should refrain from voting, and the Northern states should immediately dissolve the Union with the Southern states. Later, after further research and study, Douglass broke with the Garrisonians. He came to the conclusion that the Constitution was really an anti-slavery document, and that the compromises with slavery were actually against the spirit of the American political system, which was intended to promote liberty. Thereafter, Douglass' concern became preserving the Union and working to end slavery within the framework of the Constitution. He put this determination to great effect during the Civil War, actively recruiting black troops for the Union cause. 

Like many abolitionists, Douglass initially despised Abraham Lincoln for tolerating slavery where it already existed in the South, and for merely opposing its extension into new territories in the hope that this containment would ultimately lead to the extinction of slavery.  After actually meeting Lincoln, however, Douglass developed a deep admiration and affection for the President, and came to appreciate the prudence of his incremental approach to emancipation and black rights, in the fragile and explosive political climate of the time. Lincoln and Douglass still had their disagreements though- there is a scene in the book of Douglass arriving at the White House to seek justice for black Union prisoners murdered or sold into slavery by the Confederates. The fiery Douglass recommended that Lincoln should immediately retaliate upon Southern prisoners in his hands, whether or not they had personally been involved in the crimes, but Lincoln was understandably upset at the idea of punishing the innocent for the guilty. He also worried that retaliation would lead to a vicious cycle of brutality and revenge. (Eventually, he did issue a retaliatory order, but it was not enforced). In his memoir, Douglass says he respected Lincoln's humane spirit, but still could not agree with him…

After the war, Douglass was, of course, overjoyed that slavery had finally come to an end, but he also says he felt a strange sense of sadness and regret, as if the noblest part of his life were over. He soon realized, however, that there was still much work to be done, and devoted the rest of his life to helping his fellow freedmen to rise and improve their conditions, economically, socially and politically. 

The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell

Kimberly