Customer Reviews
Their lives and relationships - By: Gary Selikow, 28 Oct 2008 
Based on extensive research Alison Weir traces the lives of Henry VIII's 3 children, Edward, Mary & Elizabeth, as well as their cousin, the ill fated nine days queen, Lady Jane Grey.
Weir begins the chronicles with the death of Henry VIIIin 1547.
She stresses that the book is not a history of England during the reign of these 4 monarchs but rather an account of their personal lives & the relations between themin the 11 years after Henry's death.
While Mary & Elizabeth suffered from their mothers being removed & themselves disinherited & labelled as 'bastards' (Elizabeth when she was only three), Edward grew up securein his father's love & protection.
In the introduction to these chronicles Weir discusses the psychological & physical health of Mary.
The onset of puberty had coincided with the separation of her parents & thisin turn resultedin a succession of serious illnesses that were most likely psychologicalin origin, & which she suffered from until the end of her life.
These included severe depression, palpitations, headaches, & what would now be referred to as premenstrual tension & most likely also seasonal affective disorder.
Elizabeth lived with the horrifying memories of her mother's execution when she was only three.
When Elizabeth was eight, Katherine Howard, who Elizabeth had been close to, was executed for adultery which resurrected the scars of the execution of Anne Boleyn.
While her father was cruel to her, & for long periods refused to see her for long periods, Elizabeth was fortunate enough to have come under Katherine Parr's protection & influence.
Edward was intelligent, strong-minded & as fervent a Protestant as his sister Mary was a Catholic, but he could also be cruel.
King Henry's last wife Katherine Parr was a true saint. She showed great love to all of Henry's children & to Lady Jane Grey, who was so cruelly treated by her ruthless & ambitious parents.
Jane Grey was a devout Protestant, kind & intelligent, a gem of a soul, her use as apolitical pawn & her execution being one of the great injustices & tragedies of the history of the England of this period.
Weir tries to present a sympathetic portrait of Mary I, but I believe that for all of the testimonies of Mary's supposed goodness, her importation of the inquisition into England, & the burning of Protestants to try to ruthlessly force Catholicismin England, means she wasin the end a bloody tyrant.
Queen Elizabeth always practised religious tolerance & never persecuted anybody on their faith.
When a register of martyrs was printedin 1557, each list ended with the rhyme : "When these with violence were burned to death, we longed for our Elizabeth."
The death of Mary I of England was a great relief to most of her subjects. Queen Elizabeth's accession heralded a golden agein England under that country's greatest monarch.
Alison Weir, as always has done a fine job of capturing the essence of the four sovereigns combining detail with a fine, pleasurable read.
informative, concise and well worth reading. - By: erichardson@datamonitor.com, 18 Apr 2000 A fascinating book that deals with each of his childrenin turn. It gives the reader an insight into why they acted as they did. It proves that really all four of them were neglected lonely people. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone interestedin this period.
No mention of Henry VIII's bastard son, Henry Frizroy! - By: , 23 Aug 1999 This book givesin depth factual information that quenches my thirst for Tudor information. Although the book covers Jane Grey, Edward VI, Elizabeth, & Mary I well, Alison has failed to mention Henry VIII bastard son, Henry Frizroy, the son of one of Henry's mistresses, Elizabeth Blount. Although Frizroy played no partin England's political history, it would have been nice to have some information on him. Other then that, this book is probably one of Alison's best, showing both the personal & political sides to each person. Keep writing!
Jane Grey the Queene - By: , 04 Jul 1999 The childhoods of the "children" are revealed thru & thru by my favorite Tudor biographer. You read about Jane Grey so muchin other books yet you don't really KNOW her, here it is!
Very good book keeps you interested throughout. - By: , 04 Jun 1999 
I watched the movie elizabeth, & was interestedin finding more out about her. I picked up this book at the book store. I started reading it & couldn't put it down. It is a very well written book, & I would reccomend it to anyone.
