Picked this up at The Cloisters this summer: it seemed like an appropriate purchase.

A fascinating look at how Elizabeth I became Queen of England in her own right, and at the women who tried to take power before her, with varying degrees of success: Matilda (1102-1167), Eleanor (1124-1204), Isabella (1295-1358), and Margaret (1430-1483).

I'd only heard of Eleanor previously, but I bought this book with the idea that I'd read it and then pass it on to a particular person, and I suspect that she will recognize more of these historical figures than I do.

I found the maps helpful, and the family trees even more so: some of these episodes are so complicated that it's not always easy to keep track of who's who and how they're connected.

This animal book is not being wild released; it's headed to Tennessee as a birthday group gift - hopefully it will even arrive in time!

Wishing you a terrific birthday with thanks for all your hard work!

I received this great book for my birthday, thanks for helping to make my birthday special!

The very interesting look at the women who ruled or tried to rule England before Elizabeth I including Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou.

Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I was in a fight for the crown of England with her cousin Stephen for many years eventually having to settle for her son Henry being recognized as the heir to the throne of Stephen and becoming Henry II.

Henry II was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine who was a rich powerful duchess in her own right and was Queen Consort to Louis VII of France. Upon her divorce from Louis she choose to married Henry and became Queen of England. Eleanor is my favorite of the Queens due to her strong character, positive view of her self worth, and take no prisioners attitude. She and Henry had several children, she went on Crusade and was a great help managing the husband's kingdom. Even though her husband locked her up for 15 years for conspiracing against him with their sons she emerged vindicated upon the accession of her son Richard the Lionheart to the throne.

Isabella of France was married at age 12 to Edward II of England. Edward to a very poor King who was more concerned with his friends and having fun than with ruling the kingdon and with the help of her brother Charles, King of France she succeeded in having her husband overthrown in favor of her son Edward III.

Margaret of Anjou was married to Henry VI of England. Henry who often suffered from a debilitating mental condition was embroiled in the War of the Roses throughout his reign and was a weak and ineffectual King. Margaret did all she could to protect both her husband's rule and the future rule of her son Edward but he was killed in the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 before he could realize his potential and her husband was captured and eventually killed in the Tower by King Edward IV.

I really enjoyed this book and while there are a lot of "players" mentioned throughout I did not have trouble keeping it straight.(I read a lot of Tudor history)

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Parts of this book I enjoyed thoroughly; other parts I'm not so sure about. To begin with, I knew almost nothing about Empress Matilda and her contest against her cousin Stephen, so Castor made a very favorable impression with this section. She also used this as a perfect example of the contradictory, yet simultaneously held, views of women by society. First, that all women are incompetent to rule because they are too (insert demeaning term here); and when that is proved utterly wrong, THIS specific woman is monstrous and evil because she is insufficiently (demeaning term). Castor also points out explicitly that widely condemned attitudes and actions of Matilda on behalf of her own claim as daughter of King Henry I, were applauded when taken up by Mathilda on behalf of her husband Stephen, whose claim was considerably less valid than Matilda's.

The fourth section, on Margaret of Anjou, was a little less satisfactory. I'd read a lot of unfavorable comments about her in other books, and hoped to get some clues about her motivations. I understand that those are hard to find at a distance of half a millennium, but I was still left wanting more.

The two middle characters, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France, are subjects of exhaustively researched biographies by Alison Weir. At this point, I wish I had some training in historical research, because without it I'm obviously not qualified to judge. But Weir has always impressed me because she not only gives us her sources, but in the many cases where they disagree, she shows us how she evaluates them ("So-and-so wrote this account, but we know from other documents that he was actually in another town miles away at that time, so it can't possibly be based on his own knowledge"). Especially in the case of Isabella, Weir takes a more sympathetic approach, and I find her persuasive.

The growing set of interlinked geneaological charts in this book was a brilliant idea. First, it did help me keep family relationships straight. Second, it gave me a good new view of history as continuous development, rather than a series of chunks.

Also, the whole book is well written and very enjoyable to read. All four of the women in the central sections had spectacular and fascinating lives, and I'm glad I got the chance to spend time learning more about them.

Mailed to Anathema-device for Bookworm-lady's Non-Fiction Sweepstakes.

Thank you, JudySlump612, for this sweepstakes book. I don't think I would have picked it up in a bookshop, and/but I'm always open to new reading experiences. Also, looking at the previous entries, I just realised that I know some things about some of the kings in question (mainly from Shakespeare), but if this book puts the main focus on the queens, I'm sure it will be a fascinating read.

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