Behind the Palace Walls: The Rise and Fall of Britain's Royal Family

by Peter Fearon

As Henry VIII's only child, the future seemed golden for Princess Mary. She was the daughter of Henry's first queen, Katharine of Aragon, and was heir presumptive to the throne of England. Red-haired... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806580070
• ISBN13: 9780806580074
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Carol Publishing Corporation
• Length: 387 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A fascinating, tightly-written study

For some American readers like me, the tragedy of Princess Diana's death may have pointed up how little we know about the British royal family and sent us looking for sources. After starting and discarding several tendentious "histories" of the House of Windsor, I found this one to be a breath of fresh air. Peter Fearon has written an objective, concisely-written, exhaustive account of the royal family (beginning with the death of Queen Victoria), and yet has done so in a highly readable way. Unlike every other author I've seen so far, Fearon doesn't seem to have an axe to grind about the Windsors. I'm in my 40s and hadn't been exposed to much of the history here and found it fascinating. I was sorry to finish the book.