Mary Queen of Scots (Women in History)

One or two reviewers down: Wasn't Mary thee times a widow? Bothwell died before her too, I seem to recall. Quite horribly, too: he was locked up in a dungeon in some castle in Denmark. He was held there, chained to a stone pillar, for ten years. In that time nobody spoke to him (his wardens were expressly forbidden to do so) and his food and drink was brought through a small trap door. After a few years he was a raving lunatic and after that, for the last two to three years he was there, completely catatonic. When he hadn't touched his food for two weeks, they looked in on him and found his dead body clothed in scraps and rags, covered in filth, sores and vermin. He had starved to death. The odd thing is, and it is quite touching too in a way, is that after his death his body was taken out of his cell and was cleaned up, washed, shaved, embalmed and dressed in finery befitting a man of his station. He was given decent christian burial. Why the King of Denmark had treated him so badly in life is not known, nor why he was decently laid out and buried after his death. After Mary's flight to England in 1568 Bothwell is never mentioned again in many books, which is odd: the tragic story of his captivity and death marks a poignant and moving epilogue to their marriage. Nine years after him, Mary would die.
We know she knew Bothwell died, but was she ever told how horrible his end had been....I wonder. This is very good book. Read it and get aquainted with Mary Stuart and her troubled life and times. O and Darnley was a stupid pr*ck, a nasty egocentric spoilt little toff who was a willing if useless pawn in the schemes and intrigues of his ghastly and over-ambitious parents. Bothwell was a hundred times the man Darnley was, Oh Mary Stuart, Oh James Bothwell: why dinnea ye two hi yesel' tae Holland or Flanders, or tae France even, and live happily ever after... Instead of which bliss it was a stone pillar that did for the one, and three strokes of an axe for the other. Sic transit...

First class biography (1/1 people found this helpful)

A magnificent biography of a woman who still courts controversy 400 years after her death. Fraser's biography is immensely sympathetic to Mary, and all the more readable for that. She has researched every aspect of Mary's life and times, I believe she visited every place associated with her while researching the book, and this attention to detail is obvious in every sentence. I've read this book at least half a dozen times and it is one of my favourite biographies. Fraser manages to make the politics of the French court and the Scottish nobility intelligible (especially important when every Scottish lord seems to be called James, Duke of Mar, Moray, Morton etc etc). The portrait of Queen Elizabeth during Mary's long captivity highlights her struggle with the daughter of debate, as Mary was called. Beautifully written, full of insights and intelligent interpretations of the facts, this is an outstanding biography.

The Best Biography I've Ever Read (16/16 people found this helpful)

I have been fascinated by Mary, Queen of Scots, since I first heard about her in a history lesson when I was about 9 years old. I was very shocked by the fact that she was executed, partly because she was a queen and partly because she was a woman. I felt that her fate was so unfair and have never come across anything to change that vivid first impression.

I loved this book about her. Antonia Fraser really brings her subject to life, truly a 3 dimensional portrait painted in words. This book is so full of detail, none of which feels unnecessary. There is no skipping bits because they are dull and/or irrelevant. I also got the impression that Antonia Fraser liked her subject, that she too had at some time felt distressed that this woman met such a horrible end, the culmination of a life spent largely in captivity. The author does a splendid job of conveying the frustration of Mary's position as a "guest" of Queen Elizabeth I.

This book is interesting and well-written. I find that even the most interesting history books and/or biographies often have dry sections that I skim but that wasn't the case at all with this particular book. There are long discussions of the moral and political issues surrounding Mary's captivity but they are written in such a way that they engage the reader. In some ways the author had a head start, given the subject matter. Even the bare bones of Mary's story are interesting but Antonia Fraser has certainly doen her subject justice.

I think this is one of the best historical biographies I have ever read. The subject comes alive and almost jumps out of the book. By the end of this book I felt like I had known Mary all my life and overall my impression of her was favourable. The detailed description of her last moments was difficult to read such was my sympathy for the vital woman described by the author. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in Mary, Queen of Scots. I have read many good books by Antonia Fraser but this one, to my mind, stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Exhaustive and exhausting (10/10 people found this helpful)

Fantastic amount of information. How did she manage to put it all together in the 1960s, before the days of word processors? But it's not an easy read, because the politics of Mary's time were complicated and it's hard to tell one of the Protestant lords from another if you don't know something about the period before you start. She does manage to bring Mary to life, though, without doing too much of the 'Mary must have thought...' or 'It probably occurred to her', which is the downfall of lesser biographers. I like the way she gets faintly exasperated by her heroine without ever falling out of sympathy with her. It makes a change from so many biographers nowadays, who devote themselves to debunking their subjects. All in all, very impressive.

What can I say? Excellent in detail, in opinion, in feeling (6/6 people found this helpful)

A very detailed yet sympathetic (for the reader) book. It offers a great deal of information while refusing to be bogged down in description. It moves away from the simply scandalous view of Mary's life to show a much more understanding (but still detailed) view of her life. And it's easy to read.

Mary Queen of Scots (Women in History)

Antonia Fraser

Reader Reviews:

the complete life of Mary Stuart. (0/0 people found this helpful)

First class biography (1/1 people found this helpful)

The Best Biography I've Ever Read (16/16 people found this helpful)

Exhaustive and exhausting (10/10 people found this helpful)

What can I say? Excellent in detail, in opinion, in feeling (6/6 people found this helpful)

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