Anna Whitelock

This biography of Mary Tudor reads almost like a novel and with a life as dramatic as Mary Tudor's, it makes for easy reading. The author is clearly sympathetic to Mary and her circumstances, and I appreciate that stance in a biographer. I do wish more had been included about Mary's governance, her approach to politics, the extent of her religious transformation, and analysis of her foreign policy. The glimpses of these aspects are intriguing - Mary sometimes stood her ground in the face of opposition from her councilors, her husband, and even the Pope toward the end of her reign - I would love to read more about her motivations in these circumstances, as clearly she was more powerful and more adept than one may otherwise be led to think. Overall, this was a good biography of a queen often overlooked in favor of her more glamorous sister, but certainly one worth learning more about.… (more)

Anna Whitelock's biography of Mary Tudor is a good political narrative of her life and career. In it, she makes a convincing case that Mary was a far more successful queen than she has traditionally been given credit for, and that she redefined the English monarchy in her five years on the throne. Her book's primary weakness is the fleeting treatment she gives to the non-political aspects of Mary's life, with only passing references to other aspects of her personality. Readers seeking a more comprehensive treatment of Mary's life might want to turn to Linda Porter's recent biography of the queen, yet for anyone seeking to understand Mary's reign this is an excellent place to begin.… (more)