Sovereign Ladies: The Six Reigning Queens of England

by Maureen Waller

Book Overview

In the bestselling tradition of authors Antonia Fraser and David Starkey, Maureen Waller has written a fascinating narrative history---a brilliant combination of drama and biographical insight---of the six women who have ruled England in their own names. ? In the last millennium there have been only six English female sovereigns: Mary I and Elizabeth I, Mary II and Anne, Victoria and Elizabeth II, who celebrated her eightieth birthday in 2006. With...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312338015
• ISBN13: 9780312338015
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 554 Pages
• Weight: 1.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Interesting book on Queens

Adult book about Queens of history

History Well Written

Maureen Waller, British Historian, made what could be dry history interesting to non-historians with this brilliant book covering the 6 women who wore the crown in their own names; Tudor sisters, the Catholic, Mary I and her half-sister the Protestant, Elizabeth I; the descendants of Mary Queen of Scots the Stewart sisters, Mary II (who ruled with her Dutch husband, William III) followed by her sister Queen Anne; Queen Victoria, the longest reigning British monarch; and the current Queen Elizabeth II who may very well surpass Victoria's longevity on the throne. Without a doubt the most interesting, formidable, educated, politically astute and powerful of all these queens was Elizabeth I. She was an absolute sovereign monarch who not only reigned by ruled; a far cry from her namesake Elizabeth II, who can only suggest, advise, the Prime Minister & parliament who rule the commonwealth in her name. In 1837 when Victoria came to the throne a great many powers still remained in the sovereign's hands, and with the worldwide expansion of the colonial system durng her reign "the sun never set on the British Empire" yet was also during Victoria's reign that powers were slowly but permanently moved to the Parliament. The Stewarts were fascinating because it was least familiar though their post-reformation reigns took place when Britain fought some of its greatest battles with the French and Protestant England again to to face the religious question for the fist time since the Elizabethan period. Mary & Anne's father, James II, while a widower and heir to his childless brother Charles II's throne, married a Italian Princess and converted to catholicism. James II's reign was cut short when the English with the help of the Dutch in the person of his son-in-law, William of Orange, in the name of the Protestant faith, forced him from the throne and alon with his wife, James II's daughter Mary, ruled in England in the duel Monarchy of William & Mary, although William was said to be the true power to which Mary "as a good wife" quite happily deferred. Queen Anne had an interesting friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, whose family gained prominence under her reign, and would claim a bigger stake in history with their descendant Winston Churchill serving as Prime Minister during England's greatest hour. The small portion of the book alloted to the current Queen was not new, just more of the same gossipy material covered for decades in the tabloids. Although Ms. Waller, commends her unwavering dedication to her duty, she is compared less favourably with her predecessors because she in fact does not rule England, rather her reign is more about ceremony & tradition. Personally she is a emotionally stronger version of her great great grandmother Queen Victoria, an unimaginative woman, although great learner and hard worker, with a strained relationship to her eldest son & heir, and takes more delight in her horses & dogs than i

Sovereign Ladies is the fascinating story of the six reigning queens of Great Britain

Sovereign Ladies is the story of the six women who have ruled Great Britian. You might call it a tale of the good, bad, ugly and beautiful! Historian Maureen Waller writes in an accessible style which adds to our knowledge of these important historical women. Waller's book discusses in scintillating chapters the following queens: 1. Mary I (reign-1553-1558). Bloody Mary so called because of the over 300 Protestants burned at the stake during her reign. Mary followed Edward IV her Protestant half brother to the throne. Mary was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon the first wife of Henry VIII. Henry had divorced Katherine in order to wed Anne Boleyn. Katherine had failed to produce a male heir to the throne. Mary wed Phillip II of Spain but failed to have a child. She was a devout Roman Catholic not liked by the British people. Her relationship with her half sister Elizabeth was convoluted. At one time she imprisoned Elizabeth in the Tower of London. Her attempt to align England with the papacy failed and she died after a short and inglorious reign. 2. Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The greatest queen and possibly the greatest ruler in English history she was good Queen Bess beloved by her people. During her long reign the Spanish Armada was defeated; England lived under a policy of religious toleration; Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights produced great plays; North America was explored and Virginia named after the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth never married though she was often courted. Elizabeth was a brilliant intellect speaking several modern and ancient languages. She surrounded herself with savvy advisors. In 1587 she ordered the execution of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots due to the latter's involvement in conspiracies designed to dethrone Elizabeth and restore England to the Roman Catholic faith. The cult of Elizabeth was wide and she was considered a modern incarnation of the Virgin Mary. She was the daughter of the beheaded Anne Boleyn and the formidable and evil Henry VIII. Countless novels, movies and biographies of this complex ruler pour off the presses. 3, Mary II. (1688-1694) Mary was the daughter of James II (he reigned from 1685-1688). James II was a Roman Catholic who was forced into exile in 1688 to be replaced by William of Orange the Protestant from the Netherlands. William and Mary reigned as co-monarchs. Mary was a bright woman and a good queen. She loved her husband, England and learning. She was childless and died young. Mary was a strong Protestant unlike her father James II. In 1690 James II lost the battle of the Boyne in his attempt to unseat William and Mary. 4. Anne (1702-1714). Anne was the younger sister of Mary II and the daughter of Catholic James II. She was duller than her sister Mary and plotted against her father. Anne became Queen of England following the death of King William. She was constantly pregnant by her mediocre husband George of Denmark. None of her 16 pregnancies resulted in the birth of a healthy chi

A great read.

Seven personalities, not six, are on display here, the reigning queens' and Ms. Waller's. She doesn't condescend to the reader or get too lofty either; she assumes you're pretty educated, anyway, if you're reading this work, but not an expert on this subject. I loved her "voice;" it was friendly, highly personal--yet her research was impressive. I can't imagine trying to make sense of the huge amounts of often conflicting information. Like Antonia Fraser, Waller assumes the reader has a good command of foreign languages, so if, like me, you last opened a Latin book sometime in the 80's be prepared to miss a point here and there. In some places, I noticed sparks of startling misogyny. For example, Edward, son of Henry VIII was dying and his caretakers dismissed his physicians and brought in "a female quack." Well, maybe she was a quack and maybe she wasn't, but Edward was dying anyway and Ms. Waller didn't criticize the males who failed to save him. (Frankly, I wouldn't want to be treated by a medieval or Ren doctor of either sex.) In another section, she praises Elizabeth II for thinking "like a man." Hardly words I'd expect from a woman writing about comparatively powerful women! Waller succeeds in finding the personalities of all the queens, and since I never found anything interesting about either Anne or Mary II it was fascinating to feel them in particular come alive. All in all, I greatly enjoyed this book that gave wonderfully readable stories of the queens that were more than regents.

Good for a first-timer

If you are not at all familiar with the six reigning Queens of England, than this is the book for you. It was informative, concise, not too biased in one direction or the other, and showed a bit of each ladies personality. It is the type of book to spark a persons interest in doing additional research on each monarch, on an individual basis. My reason for four stars, instead of five, is that I am VERY familiar with the British monarchy. This book did not disappoint, but there was little that was new and which hadn't been read in other volumes.

SOVEREIGN LADIES

AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT IS INFORMATIVE AND EXTREMELY INTERESTING. ALTHOUGH I AM FAMILIAR WITH EACH SOVEREIGN I LEARNED MUCH MORE THAN I EXPECTED TO. THE INSIGHT INTO THE TIMES MADE EACH SEGMENT RELEVANT. A VERY WORTHWHILE READ.