Book of the Month February
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- Ives is fair and balanced
- His research is meticulous
- He bases his views, theories and opinions on historical sources
- He cites his sources - and accurately too! No just saying LP, he tells you which part of which volume.
- Although his books are history text books they are wonderfully readable
- He looks at every part of his subject's life and also the context, the times they lived in
- He sifts through myths, legends, chronicles and sources to get to the truth
What's the Mystery
So, "what's the mystery?", you may ask, "why the strange title". Well, although we know that Lady Jane Grey, or Jane Dudley, was monarch of England for a short time, what do we really know about her? Not a lot. We can't even get her nickname right, she ruled for thirteen days, yet we insist on calling her "The Nine Days Queen"! In his biography, Eric Ives attempts to solve the mystery surrounding Lady Jane Grey, to introduce us to the real Jane and to answer the following questions:-- What did Lady Jane Grey look like?
- When was she born?
- What were her family like?
- Was Frances Brandon really a tyrant?
- Was Lady Jane Grey manipulated by those around her?
- Was she forced into marriage?
- Did she want the crown or was she forced into being Queen?
- Was she a Protestant martyr? A Victorian heroine? An innocent? A scapegoat?
- Just how intelligent was she?
- Why did Edward VI choose her as his heir?
- Why did Mary I finally execute her?
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