Mary Tudor (Old and New Perspectives)

According to both popular myth and traditional histories, Mary Tudor was a failure. Known primarily as Bloody Mary, she has usually been contrasted unfavorably with her younger sibling and heir, Elizabeth I. This negative view of Mary has most recently been perpetuated in David Starkey's TV documentaries and biography of the young Elizabeth, which present the new queen as deliberately forging a path that was quite different from that of her half-sister. The time has come for a rethink.

Susan Doran and Tom Freeman have gathered an outstanding team of international historians to look at the traditional presentation of Mary and her reign, and why we should question this view. This incisive collection will appeal to students, scholars and general readers.

Features:

 

* Challenges the accepted view of Mary as a tyrant, presenting a more balanced and nuanced portrait * Based on the latest cutting-edge and controversial thinking in Early Modern history
* Traces the growth and development of the myth of 'Bloody Mary'

 

This text will be essential reading for graduate courses on Tudor history.