Love the book. Bought second hand at a good fair price which is a bonus. Fast delivery too.

Lots of typos

good reading I do so love my history brings to life the people of real life.

Alison Weir has excelled herself with this page-turning novel of tragedy, punctuated by small dollops of happiness. This tale of a woman who is both a victim of, and who, in turn, causes, much sorrow, is easily the best of the Tudor Rose Trilogy.

Charting Mary's story and journey, from a bright self-confident, happy and much-loved child, to a vengeful and bitterly fanatical adult, Alison Weir does manage, in much of the book, to convey Queen Mary as a human being, capable of being loving and caring, particularly with her young half-sister, after she has heartbreakingly lost her mother Anne Boleyn, and being loath, at first, to sentence those in revolt against her, to death. There are also incidences of courage, particularly when fighting for her throne.

And, to be fair, it isn't difficult to see what Mary had to be bitter and sorrowful about. Her father, Henry VIII repudiates her mother and declares Mary illegitimate - barring her from the line of succession. The king's new wife, Anne Boleyn forces Mary to be a servant to her half-sister, and some time later, Mary is compelled to declare her mother's marriage to the king invalid.

Later, as a Catholic, her brother Edward VI and his council try to prevent her from practising her religion and attending Mass, even in private. Then there's the attempt to use her cousin once removed, Lady Jane Dudley, as a pawn to prevent her succeeding to the throne. Finally, there is her mistrust of Elizabeth and her half belief that they don't share the same father.

Even as monarch, her troubles are not over, when she marries Philip II of Spain - a man who doesn't love her and seemingly takes every opportunity to get away from her.

However, it is religion which is the final cause of Mary's, at least partial, morphing into the "Bloody Mary" of many history books. Her dream is to reunite the English Church with that of Rome, and she refuses to take on board the advice given by her council and husband to proceed cautiously and carefully, particularly when "rooting out heresy". Some of the novel's descriptions of the burnings of Protestants are horrific. One factual event, where a woman burnt as a "heretic" in Guernsey gives birth to a child at the stake, and the official in charge throws it back on the fire, shocked me to the core by its cold-blooded, unspeakably vicious and barbaric inhumanity.

This book covers momentous historical events and, at times, isn't for those with delicate sensibilities, but whether you're interested in history or not, I believe, that a great read is guaranteed.

Re this book - oh dear…….Read most of Alison Weir’s books on the Tudor period and previously enjoyed them. Now sadly find that each new book seems to be getting more like an Elizabethan Mills & Boon. Too much conjecture from the writer about character’s ‘inner thoughts’, and far too much padding out with a liberal 21st century interpretation of 16th century monarchy/politics. Not to mention quite a few errors/typos in this hardback edition….. This book was not for me but some will like it.

Having recently read a diabolical "historical fiction" book on Mary, and not having read anything by Alison Weird for rather a long time, I took a while to buy this book. I'm so glad I did - fantastic research and great writing. An interesting take on Mary's character and I did learn more about her few achievements. she did come across as a slightly more sympathetic character, but with an almost total dependency on men! Whether she was trying to create some idyllic dream she'd been harbouring, or whether she really did believe St Paul was infallible, can only be speculated! This book gets my seal of approval because its one that, I know I don't regret buying because its a rereadable one for years to come.

This is the third book in the Tudor Rose Trilogy, and it follows Mary I, the firstborn daughter of Henry VIII and the only child of Katherine of Aragon.

When Mary was a child, she loved her father until she heard the rumours of the ‘King’s Great Matter’, in which Henry wanted to divorce Katherine on the grounds of not producing a male heir.

Mary was outraged to hear this, as she adored her mother and took her side. Just like her mother, she was a devout Catholic, and prayed for her father, however, to no avail.

The story moves through Henry’s marriages and the time when Mary was perceived as illegitimate. This later changed, and she was restored to the line of succession, and as we know, she became the Queen.

Mary’s five-year reign wasn’t easy. There were rebels everywhere conspiring against her, and throughout her short rule, there was a lot of bloodshed. She became extremely fixated on stamping out the heretics, and many were burned at the stake.

In my mind, she was overzealous and too radical when it came to religion. She thought she was doing it for the right reasons, but I was squirming in my seat when she sent yet another person to their death.

Her marriage to Philip of Spain was her undoing. This was a hugely unpopular match; the English at that time didn’t trust any foreigners, and the royal couple became the easy target for the nation’s distrust and dislike. It is fair to say that Mary loved Philip and would do anything for him, but the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.

I was saddened to read about her phantom pregnancies. Mary really wanted a child, and I am sure she would have been a good mother.

Overall, this book contains a great and detailed piece of history within its pages. I definitely recommend it.

Very good product

The book arrived promptly, in perfect condition. Very nice.

More to know about Mary I.......a great book!

Looks like in the pictures, only got damaged in shipping. Try packiging it more secure next time.

Es un e-book. Lo recibí perfectamente y me ha encantado como todos los libros de Alyson Weir que es una autora excelente, que documenta la historia de los Tudor exhaustivamente

Mary gilt zu unrecht als Die Blutige, da war ihr Vater deutlich schlimmer. Es ist interessant, mal die andere Seite zu sehen. Die Königin, die tatsächlich geglaubt hat, ihrem Volk zu dienen, wenn sie es zum rechten Glauben zurückführt. Die ungeliebte Tochter kommt zu Wort, ohne die spannende Erzählung zu verlieren.