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Chargement... Daughters of the Winter Queen: Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)par Nancy Goldstone
   Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.  sriddell | Aug 6, 2022 |    ) jennybeast | Apr 14, 2022 | This book fell short of my expectations. I was geared up for a a story about strong women from the 17th century, it fell short. The book encompasses the female descendants of Mary Queen of Scots. It begins with the botched beheading of Mary and picks up after that with her granddaughter Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of James the I of England. After her father's ascension to the throne, Elizabeth is taken from the poverty of Scotland, to the role of a princess. At 14 she is wed to a German Count, far below her station-with promises from her father to raise them both up. Mary gives birth to a bakers dozen of children, all the while waiting for her fathers help, which is slow in coming, and standing by her man. 4 of these children, Princess Elizabeth, Henrietta Maria, Lousia and Sophia grow into women who reshape the British monarchy. If you are a history nerd like me, it sounds good, right? Unfortunately Goldstone goes off topic so much that it take the entire first half of the book before you really start learning about these women. Then when a chapter is suppose be about one of these women it turns into another story about one of their brothers and the wars they fought in Bavaria to reclaim their land. It still got three stars because I did learn a few things-one of them being that the genetics of these 4 can all be traced down to the current European royalty. I also liked that all the heavy scholarly information was lightened up with humor and engaging prose. So, a 3 mediocre stars it is-on to better reading. (  ) JBroda | Sep 24, 2021 |  ) KateFinney | Jul 10, 2021 | While there are plenty of inclusions from Sophia’s writing and Louise’s art, we’re usually told Elizabeth was a brilliant scholar rather than actually reading or hearing about her thoughts, and the Winter Queen, despite being a prolific writer of letters, is only quoted very rarely. Mary II and her sister Anne are portrayed as betraying their father James II to gain the throne because they didn’t like how religiously tolerant he was, which flew in the face of everything else I’ve read on the period. It also flies in the face of the actions and reactions of the powerful English noblemen and politicians at the time, since with James II appearing to become increasingly tyrannical Mary II’s husband was invited to “invade” England, and it is called the Glorious Revolution because no one fired a shot to oppose him. It wasn’t a Shakespearean drama, as portrayed in the book, that the English people watched from the sidelines while their religion was decided for them by family jealousies, but in fact one of the most civil national revolutions in history, with quite a large number of people possessing agency, not just a handful of royals. These quibbles aside, the book as a whole was very enjoyable to read, and for me shed a great deal of light from a less conventional angle. I feel like I know Sophia better, and of the five central figures it was her I was most interested to learn about, since it’s through her that every English monarch has since descended. ( ) A._E._Chandler | Apr 26, 2021 | aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Documents how a betrayed Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of James I, raised her four daughters in exile during the Dutch Golden Age, tracing how their stories shaped a three-decade war and fulfilled the promises of their great-grandmother, Mary Queen of Scots.
"From the great courts, glittering palaces, and war-ravaged battlefields of the seventeenth century comes the story of four spirited sisters and their glamorous mother, Elizabeth Stuart, granddaughter of the martyred Mary, Queen of Scots. Upon her father's ascension to the illustrious throne of England, Elizabeth Stuart was suddenly thrust from the poverty of unruly Scotland into the fairy-tale existence of a princess of great wealth and splendor. When she was married at sixteen to a German count far below her rank, it was with the understanding that her father would help her husband achieve the kingship of Bohemia. The terrible betrayal of this commitment would ruin 'the Winter Queen,' as Elizabeth would forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loved, and launch a war that would last for thirty years. Forced into exile, the Winter Queen and her family found refuge in Holland, where the glorious art and culture of the Dutch Golden Age indelibly shaped her daughters' lives. Her eldest, Princess Elizabeth, became a scholar who earned the respect and friendship of the philosopher René Descartes. Louisa was a gifted painter whose engaging manner and appealing looks provoked heartache and scandal. Beautiful Henrietta Maria would be the only sister to marry into royalty, although at great cost. But it was the youngest, Sophia, a heroine in the tradition of a Jane Austen novel, whose ready wit and good-natured common sense masked immense strength of character, who fulfilled the promise of her great-grandmother Mary and reshaped the British monarchy, a legacy that endures to this day. Brilliantly researched and captivatingly written, filled with danger, treachery and adventure but also love, courage, and humor, Daughters of the Winter Queen follows the lives of five remarkable women who, by refusing to surrender to adversity, changed the course of history."--Dust jacket. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
 Google Books — Chargement...GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)943.7History and Geography Europe Germany and central Europe Czech Republic and SlovakiaClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: (3.97)
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We hear so much about the 1500s (Henry the 8th, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare). And the 1700's (French and American revolutions, rise of Napoleon).
But this book fills an interesting gap of the 1600s. Religious and secular wars, Holy Roman Empire and the Hapsburgs, Germany and Eastern Europe splintered into tiny principalities. And tons of intrigue, backstabbing and drama. This book follows all of it.
I was interested to learn how many of the wars of this era were fought essentially between families vying for personal and family power.
The book drags just a little as, inevitably, some of the story turns into who attacked whom and where. But overall the author did a good job of bringing some potentially dry subject matter to life. (