Guy, John – The Bell Bookshop

Hunting the falcon

Emma — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A TLS, TIMES, PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARA groundbreaking examination of how the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sent shockwaves across a continent and changed England forever.‘In many places, where once we had speculation, we now have certainty. This book is at once an education and a joy to read’ LITERARY REVIEW‘Combines meticulously researched history and contemporary voices with narrative flair’ SUNDAY TIMES‘Anne Boleyn comes alive in this impressive study . . . Moves and informs’ THE TIMES‘The most cogent narrative reading of the evidence to date’ SPECTATORThe story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is one of the most remarkable in history: a long courtship followed by a shotgun wedding and then a coronation, ending just short of three years later when a husband’s passion turned to such hatred that he simply wanted his wife gone. In Hunting the Falcon, John Guy and Julia Fox examine the most recent archival discoveries and peel back layers of historical myth to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. They show how Anne and Henry’s relationship was tied almost completely to the major events of international politics at one of the great turning points of European history, and dispel any assumptions that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. Anne was in fact a shrewd and ruthless politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies – and whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign. Hunting the Falcon sets the facts and some completely new finds into a wide frame, unearthing the truth about these two extraordinary lives and their tumultuous times. It pays particular attention to the seven ‘missing’ years that Anne spent in France, and explores how she organised her side of the royal court in novel ways that ultimately sowed the seeds of her own downfall. In this feat of historical research and analysis, Guy and Fox offer a sumptuous retelling of one of the most consequential marriages in history and an exhilarating portrait of love, lust, politics and power.‘Better than Wolf Hall because it’s all true’ ANDREW ROBERTS‘A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics’ AMANDA FOREMAN

Hunting the falcon

Emma — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A groundbreaking examination of how the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sent shockwaves across a continent and changed England forever.‘A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics’ AMANDA FOREMAN‘In many places, where once we had speculation, we now have certainty. This book is at once an education and a joy to read’ LITERARY REVIEW‘Better than Wolf Hall because it’s all true’ ANDREW ROBERTS‘Much more than yet another Tudor history book’ THE TIMES, ‘THE BIGGEST BOOKS OF THE AUTUMN’The story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is one of the most remarkable in history: a long courtship followed by a shotgun wedding and then a coronation, ending just short of three years later when a husband’s passion turned to such hatred that he simply wanted his wife gone. In Hunting the Falcon, John Guy and Julia Fox examine the most recent archival discoveries and peel back layers of historical myth to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. They show how Anne and Henry’s relationship was tied almost completely to the major events of international politics at one of the great turning points of European history, and dispel any assumptions that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. Anne was in fact a shrewd and ruthless politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies – and whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign. Hunting the Falcon sets the facts and some completely new finds into a wide frame, unearthing the truth about these two extraordinary lives and their tumultuous times. It pays particular attention to the seven ‘missing’ years that Anne spent in France, and explores how she organised her side of the royal court in novel ways that ultimately sowed the seeds of her own downfall. In this feat of historical research and analysis, Guy and Fox offer a sumptuous retelling of one of the most consequential marriages in history and an exhilarating portrait of love, lust, politics and power.‘Combines meticulously researched history and contemporary voices with narrative flair. The Guy/Fox approach is fresh partly because they are a married couple writing about a marriage, but more because they reframe the story in the context of continental European politics’ SUNDAY TIMES

Henry VIII

Emma — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Henry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the commonwealth', this most notorious of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome; a talented, charismatic, imposing figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet people's eyes when he talked to them. In this revealing new account, John Guy explores how Henry himself understood the world and his place in it - from his sheltered and increasingly isolated upbringing and the blazing glory of his accession; to his desperate quest for recognition, fame and an heir, and the terrifying paranoia of his last, agonising, 54-inch-waisted years - and in doing so casts new light on his choice of wives and ministers, his impact on the European stage, and his extraordinary legacy.

Elizabeth

Emma — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000

History has pictured Elizabeth I as Gloriana, an icon of strength and power — and has focused on the early years of her reign. But in 1583, when Elizabeth is fifty, there is relentless plotting among her courtiers — and still to come is the Spanish Armada and the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. We have not, until now, had the full picture.

This gripping and vivid portrait of her life and times — often told in her own words (and including details such as her love of chess and marzipan) — reveals a woman who was insecure, human (‘You know I am no morning woman’), and unpopular even with the men who fought for her. This is the real Elizabeth, for the first time.