About book The First Queen Of England: The Myth Of "Bloody Mary" (2008)
I found this book to be a bit of a slog to get through - maybe I was just trying to read it at the wrong time of the day. For the most part I was able to read about 10 pages at a time. That being said, I am extremely happy that I did read this book. I have never before read a book that had Mary as anything other than a secondary character. From early on in the book I knew that I owed Queen Mary and her memory a huge apology as I like so many others, fell victim to the propaganda regarding Mary. I would definitely recommend this book. There have been perennial books popping up every now and then about Henry VIII and his six wives and his larger than life daughter, Elizabeth I. Although there have been several other biographies done in the past of Mary I that give a new perspective to this much maligned figure, I think no one has done what Porter has done -and this is work harder to dispel the rumors and the reputation she has gained over time as "Bloody" Mary.Granted her treatment could have used more details as H.F.M. Prescott in the "Spanish Tudor" and "Mary Tudor" and (more recently) Whitelock (with "Mary Tudor") did. Nonetheless what she did is question the testimonies written about her at the time and put on the evidence of what her reign did that later Elizabeth continued but improved.However my only nitpick is that though she was very thorough where the subject of her reign was concerned, she tended to excused her a lot which I found very troublesome at times. Nonetheless, it is a biography I recommend, that is greatly researched and a good eye-opener to this Queen.
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Good read, heavy at times but worth it, well researched and well written
—Ben
Excellent insight into the life of someone vilified in history.
—ficklepickle
