3.5
The Women of the Cousins' War
ByPublisher Description
#1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory joins two eminent historians to explore the extraordinary true stories of three women largely forgotten by history: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford; Elizabeth Woodville, queen of England; and Margaret Beaufort, the founder of the Tudor dynasty.
In her essay on Jacquetta, Philippa Gregory uses original documents, archaeology, and histories of myth and witchcraft to create the first-ever biography of the young duchess who survived two reigns and two wars to become the first lady at two rival courts. David Baldwin, established authority on the Wars of the Roses, tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the first commoner to marry a king of England for love. And Michael Jones, fellow of the Royal Historical Society, writes of Margaret Beaufort, the almost-unknown matriarch of the House of Tudor.
Beautifully illustrated throughout with rare portraits and source materials, The Women of the Cousins’ War offers fascinating insights into the inspirations behind Philippa Gregory’s fiction and will appeal to all with an interest in this epic period.
In her essay on Jacquetta, Philippa Gregory uses original documents, archaeology, and histories of myth and witchcraft to create the first-ever biography of the young duchess who survived two reigns and two wars to become the first lady at two rival courts. David Baldwin, established authority on the Wars of the Roses, tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the first commoner to marry a king of England for love. And Michael Jones, fellow of the Royal Historical Society, writes of Margaret Beaufort, the almost-unknown matriarch of the House of Tudor.
Beautifully illustrated throughout with rare portraits and source materials, The Women of the Cousins’ War offers fascinating insights into the inspirations behind Philippa Gregory’s fiction and will appeal to all with an interest in this epic period.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Women of the Cousins' War Reviews
3.5
Kiandrareadsbooks
Created about 2 months agoShare
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erinkayotic
Created 4 months agoShare
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“I would rank these sections as follows:
1) David Baldwin on Elizabeth Woodville. He does an excellent job parsing through the historical sources to shed light on her as a person and I lost track of time as I immersed myself in her story.
2) Michael Jones on Margaret Beaufort. The opening with her family history was a bit extraneous but he did justice to a woman whose reputation was ruined by…
3) Philippa Gregory. Her sections are unfortunately the first and are why it took me so long to get through this book. Her essay on Jacquetta was rambling and murky; I sadly think there isn’t enough on her to create a compelling bio. Instead, we had an essay full of maybes and perhaps.
Then the intro to the book was w i l d. Not only did I not need the explanation of fiction vs nonfiction, what is history, etc, but it was so crazy to read how Philippa Gregory cares about telling stories of women in history that are forgotten due to misogyny when she herself has written some pretty dreadful depictions of these women. Astounding. (See this TikTok for more on THAT: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6kSX2jK/)
Anyways, long story short, the second part of this book was much better than the first and there’s something to be said about leaving history to the trained historians. (Will I keep reading PG? Yes, unfortunately, because I love a historical novel in this time period and her soapy romps still outweigh a lot of other novels out there.)”
Carly MacRae
Created 5 months agoShare
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Rhiannon Lund
Created 7 months agoShare
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About Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Many of her works have been adapted for the screen including The Other Boleyn Girl. She graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and was awarded the 2016 Harrogate Festival Award for Contribution to Historical Fiction. She is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. She was awarded a CBE title for services to literature and charity in 2022. She welcomes visitors to her website PhilippaGregory.com.
Other books by Philippa Gregory
David Baldwin
David Baldwin taught history at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham for many years, and is the author of four books dealing with people and events of the Wars of the Roses, including the acclaimed Elizabeth Woodville, Mother of the Princes in the Tower.
Other books by David Baldwin
Michael Jones
Michael Jones did his Ph.D. on the Beaufort family, and subsequently taught at the University of South West England, the University of Glasgow, and Winchester College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and now works as a writer and media presenter. He is the author of six books, including The King's Mother, a highly praised biography of Margaret Beaufort, which was shortlisted for the Whitfield Prize.
Other books by Michael Jones
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