Historical Book Recomendations

Hi, so i am a history geek, i love all thing historical so i have chosen 10 Fiction books and 5 non- fiction. 
They are going to be spilt into Four catagories 

Young Adult 
Adult 
Other/Diary 
Tudor 

So Lets Get Started ... 

Young Adult   

I only have three for this section because i dont read much YA Historical Fiction

Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare ( Book #1 in The Infernal Devices Trilogy) - Fantasy/Steampunk

This is a very popular book so i thought i would start with this, Clockwork Angel is set in Victorian London in the late 1800's it follows a girl named Tessa who moves to London from New York and finds out about a whole new world exsiting with our own full of nephalim, deamons and down worlders  

The Diviners - Libba Bray (Book#1 in The Diviners Trilogy) -  Fantasy > Paranormal

The Diviners is set in New York in the roaring 1920's and is about a group of teenagers who have powers and help to find a killer. This book is full of speak-easys and flapper girls and it just encompasses the 20's era perfectly. 




 

 Changeling - Philippa Gregory (Book #1 in The Order of Darkness Series) 

The Changeling is set in a fictional europe in the 1400's and follows Luca as he has to go to monastries to help and in one of those monaastries he finds a girl called Isolde who needs to escape to claim her rightful place as Lady of her lands that her brother has taken over. This book is fast paced and vey enjoyable to read. 

 Adult 

I have Three Adult Fiction Books and 1 Non-Fiction 

Ross Poldark -Winston Graham (Book #1 in The Poldark Saga)

Ross Poldark is the first book in a 12 book saga and a recent TV series it is set in the 1700's in Cornwall, England and follows Ross as he returns from War in America to find the woman he is in love with engaged to his cousin, his father dead and his property derilict. Ross then helps an urchin girl called Demelza who then becomes his kitchin maid and this book tells the tale of love, politics, family, poverty and so much more.  

Soulless - Gail Carriger (Book #1 in The Parasol Protectorate Series) Steampunk

First of all this is a good introduction into Steampunk as well as Historical Fiction . This book is set in Victorian London and has werewolves, vampires, preternatural's and auto-matons its full of kick ass action and wit and it is laugh out loud funny. with romance and drama to boot. 

Stormbird - Conn Iggulden (Book #1 in The Wars of The Roses Series) Medevil > Wars 

Set during the turbulant times in england (1455 - 1587) where it was cousin against cousin freind against friend and know one knew who was going to sit on the throne at the end of it, think Game of Thrones but true and more realiststic. This book set the characters and the placing we have the yorkists and the lancastrians. This book is more realistic then others in its catagory and depicts the events perfectly.

The Plantagenets - Dan Jones - Non-Fiction

I havent read this entire book but i like to flip through it whenever i am looking for something it really helps especialy with who people are related to when i cannot be bothered to start up my laptop. This book tells the true life events that occured during the Plantagenet era the longest family to ever rule over England. It tells you of the Magna Carter of their belifes and there lives and how the lived.



Other 

The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank 

I put this in a catagory of its own because it can be read by people of all ages it is the ture diary of a young girl living through a war and being in hiding scared for their lives.  Anne was an amazing narrator to her own story she was funny and sweet and there was many heartbreaking moments in this book but at the same time there are many uplifting as well. I think everybody should read this book at least once in their life because it is very real and tells a tale of a story that was happening only 70 years ago is astonashing how different life is now and how diverse we are.


Tudor

I have many Tudor book because that was and is the era that intriges me the most. There is 4 Fiction books and 3 Non-Fiction books 

The White Princess - Philippa Gregory (Book #5 in The Cosuins War series) 

You dont have to read the books in this series in order, i didnt the other books are set in the same time period as Stormbird but is told from the POV of the Women. The White Princess tells the tale of Henry VIII's Mother Elizabeth of York and her marraige to King Henry VII. Her battle with her Mother-in-law Lady Maragret Beaufort who despises Elizabeth. I love Elizabeth and Henry together so it was a little difficult to read the beginging where it was very rocky in their relationship but i guess when there are Rumors of you having an affair with you Uncle thing get a little weird. 

The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory (Book #3 in The Tudor Court Series) - Fiction 

Again you dont have to read these books order they are companion novels. This book follows Henry VIII's Fouth and Fifth wives and how they came to the throne and how they were taken off. It tells of two very different women who both become Queen but are both only doing what the males in their families tell them and how they try to take back their lives. To see my review for this series click HERE 

The Confession of Katherine Howard - Suzannah Dunn - (Stand Alone) Fiction

This is one of the first Adult Historical fictions i read and to this day well over 5 years later i can still remeber how good it was. This book follows Catherine Howards friend Kat as they grow up together. It is a very different way to tell a HF kind of like on the outside looking in, you see everything from the silly little girl to the naieve young adult who trust her uncle and does what he says that end with her life bing cut very short. it is the sad tale of Henry's queen who we know barley anything about. full of love and freindship it is a amazing read. 
 

The Lady Elizabeth - Alison Weir - (Stand Alone) - Fiction 

The Lady Elizabeth tells the story of Elizabeth as a young girl and her life from the moment her mother was tried and exucuted for treason. Her rocky but loving realationship with her father and half sister and ewverything she goes through to become Queen Gloriana and it is everything that she goes through in her childhood that makes her the queen that has the reign still to this day called The Golden Age. (sorry its vauge there are lots of twist and turns in this book and i didnt want to spoil anyone)

The Tudors - Carter & Mears - Non-Fiction 

I got this book when i went to Hampton Court Palace and i loved reading through it, has maps and family trees and so much information about their reigns and how they lived. If you are looking for a refresher or just something small and easy to read pick this book up.

A Visitor Guide to Tudor England - Suzannah Lipscomb - Non-Fiction 

this is a non-fiction book that tells you of places in Tudor times like Hever Castle, The Tower of London, Shakespers Globe theatre. and then tells you a true story of something that happened there it helps you see Tudor England as the Tudors would have seen it.

The Lady in The Tower - Alison Weir - Non-Fiction 

The Lady in The Tower tells the horrible story of Anne Boleyns fall from grace and as most belived framed for the most horrible crimes against a King. Witchcraft, adultry, incest .. and many more crimes that most belive she did not commit. this book tell you of them all and of how she lved in the Tower all the way to her exucution from a master swordsman from France.

 

 If you have any sugestions leave them in the comments 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

Peyton 

Tudor Court Series - Philippa Gregory Series Review

Hello, so this is a series review of Philippa Gregory's Tudor Court series. This is a adult historical fiction series set in The Tudor period it is spanned between 1491 -  1587 so almost 100 years of history put into 7 books and told from the perspective of women who were general the lesser Sex back then. lets get started with book one. 

The Constant Princess 

Characters - Katherine of Aragon & Prince Arthur Tudor 
Page Count - 486 pgs
ISBN - 978-0-00-792632-9
Price - GBP - £7.99
My Rating - 3.5 / 5 
Synopsis -  Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from this internationally bestselling author, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon. We think of her as the barren wife of a notorious king; but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story. Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both rulers and warriors.
Aged four, she is betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and is raised to be Queen of England. She is never in doubt that it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land. Her faith is tested when her prospective father-in-law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse.
Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur's wife grows ever more bearable. But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur's young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry. His father and grandmother are against it; her powerful parents prove little use.
Yet Katherine is her mother's daughter and her fighting spirit is strong. She will do anything to achieve her aim; even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it. Philippa Gregory proves yet again that behind the apparently familiar face of history lies an astonishing story: of women warriors influencing the future of Europe, of revered heroes making deep mistakes, and of an untold love story which changes the fate of a nation.

So this book takes on a new aspect to the relationship between Henry , Katherine and Arthur. It shows what history will never know, the truth died with these great historical figures. Katherine was a strong independent woman. When her husband dies at 15 she is left poverty because her father in law will not return her dowery and it show her journey from a young girl into a Queen. It tells the early life of a queen who we only really know about how it all ends. 
This book although not my favourite i can still see some scenes vividly in my head and they have stuck with me even 2 years on.






The Other Boleyn Girl 

Characters - Anne Boleyn - Mary Boleyn - King Henry VIII 
Page Count - 529 pgs 
ISBN - 978-0-00-651400-8
My Rating - 4 / 5 
Price - GBP - £7.99
Synopsis -  Mary Boleyn catches the eye of Henry VIII when she comes to court as a girl of fourteen. Dazzled by the golden prince, Mary's joy is cut short when she discovers that she is a pawn in the dynastic plots of her family. When the capricious king's interest wanes, Mary is ordered to pass on her knowledge of how to please him to her friend and rival: her sister, Anne.
Anne soon becomes irresistible to Henry, and Mary can do nothing but watch her ambitious sister's rise. From now on, Mary will be no more than the other Boleyn girl. But beyond the court is a man who dares to challenge the power of her family to offer Mary a life of freedom and passion. If only she has the courage to break away - before the Boleyn enemies turn on the Boleyn girls...

This is probably the most well known of the series, it follows the Boleyn siblings from their rise in status to their fall. Anne, Mary and George are otherwise known as the three Boleyn's if you find one, another is not far away. When the youngest, Mary catches the eye of the notorious King of England their lives are changed forever, and the events that follow change the face of England forever. You will fall in love with and hate these  characters with a passion but it is enthralling to read. 
It took me a couple of times to get into this book because the first time i tried to read it i was about 13 years old, and i got a little weirded out by Mary getting married at 12 and having an affair with the King of England at 13. Then i started it again when i was 18 and i loved it. It is nothing like the movie, there are some similarities but i loved the book 10 times better.


The Boleyn Inheritance 

Characters - Katherine Howard - Anne of Cleeves - Jane Boleyn - King Henry VIII
Page Count - 514 pgs
ISBN - 978-0-00-719033-1
My Rating - 4.5 / 5
Price - GBP - £7.99
Synopsis -  The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves.
She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne’s path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer’s death.
The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory’s most compelling novel yet.

 The Boleyn Inheritance was the second book i read in this series and i loved it, it gives you the stories of the two queens who we don't know much about, Queens four & five Anne of Cleeves and Katherine Howard the two queens who went into it without much choice. The other queens were at least somewhat willing but Anne and Katherine were pretty much forced or coerced by the males in their families and we also get the story of Jane Boleyn the Widowed wife of George Boleyn and how she is now also a pawn in the game of who will become queen next. 
As i said before this was the second book i read in this series and it really made me fall in love with Katherine Howard before reading this book i had only really heard and read about Anne Boleyn. This book had me disbelieving that this was pretty much what happened in my country 500 years ago, girls being forced into doing whatever the head male in the family said i just cannot imagine it. 

 
 The Queens Fool 

Characters - Hannah Green - Lady Elizabeth - Mary I - Robert Dudley 
Page Count - 488 pgs
ISBN - 978-0-00-791464-7
My Rating - 3 / 5 
Price - GBP - £7.99
Synopsis -  A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth, must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love.

It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of "Sight," the ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward's protector, who brings her to court as a "holy fool" for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires.

This book though not directly linked to the Tudor family its about the people around them the subjects, and what it was like to live under Tudor rule & what it was like being a pawn for  for Lords and being a Jew in Tudor England when there was already fighting over Catholicism and the Protestant Faith. 
This was probably my least favourite book of the series but only because it didn't really feel like a Tudor novel to me it felt like i was reading something that i didn't really know the date of it seemed like it could have been at any point of time in history.
 I liked Hannah as a character but there was also quite a few flaws in her and also the characters around her, for someone in the 16th Century she does thing that were considered punishable and it seemed that to her nothing was wrong with it. overall it was somewhat of an enjoyable read and after i read it, i visited the Tower of London and saw one of the minor characters Will Sommers belongings and realised i had never given it a second glance but this book gave me some insight on characters you wouldn't normally hear about or give a second glance too. 


The Virgins Lover 

Characters - Queen Elizabeth I - Robert Dudley - Amy Dudley
Page Count - 482 pgs 
ISBN - 978-0-00-714731-1
My Rating - 4.5 / 5 
Price - GBP - £7.99
Synopsis -  Elizabeth I has acceded to the throne of England, a position she has waited and schemed for all her life. She is surrounded by advisers, all convinced that a young woman cannot form political judgements. Elizabeth feels that she can rely on just one man: her oldest friend, Robert Dudley. It is soon plain that he is more than merely a friend.

In a house in the countryside waits a very different woman, Amy, Robert’s wife. She has no taste for life at court and longs for the day when her husband will return home. She has loved him since she was a girl, but now they are adults she hardly sees him.

Meanwhile, the pressure grows for Elizabeth to marry, for it is unthinkable that a queen should rule on her own. Elizabeth’s preference is clear, but he is unavailable. But what if the unthinkable were to happen…

This was the first book in the series i read and it started my love affair with historical fiction and Elizabeth. This book depicts the strong and independent character that to this day is still known as Gloriana and her reign as The Golden Age. This book takes on the subject that again we will never know the truth of was The Virgin Queen really a virgin or did she have an affair with her childhood friend Robert Dudley. On the other side of things you have Roberts wife Amy and her view on the relationship, and well you will have to see how it pans out for the three of them because i suggest you read this book it is extremely good. (Then again i did read it about 5 years ago but what i remember it is very good) ( I didn't put too much her because i didn't want to spoil this book it has quite a few twist and turns)


The Other Queen 

Characters - Mary Queen of Scots - Bess Hardwick - George Talbot - Elizabeth I 
ISBN - 978-0-00-792606-0
My Rating - 3.5 / 5 
Price - GBP - £7.99
Synopsis -  At the centre of this novel is Mary Queen of Scotland, forced to flee into England. Mary, a devout Catholic, is, of course, a living threat to the rule of her cousin Elisabeth, whose Protestant reign is uncertain. We've been here before, of course, in various books and films. But Philippa Gregory's story this time has a different emphasis: Elizabeth's chief advisor, Cecil, formulates a plan in which the destabilising Mary will live under guard with his faithful friend, Bess of Hardwick. Bess is a remarkable woman herself; someone who has forged her own destiny, and is now in her fourth marriage, to the distinguished Earl of Shrewsbury. But soon Bess and Mary find themselves plunged into very different personal crises - with Bess's marriage under considerable strain.

I liked this book it was about something i didn't know alot about going into, i could tell you all the kings and queens from William the Conqueror of by heart but Scottish royalty i know nothing about so it was intriguing to read this and even though some what diluted you can still see the Tudor fire in the Scottish queen. 
Mary who is at the centre of a plot having been run out of Scotland and now a prisoner in England life is not at its best for Mary. who like all royalty prisoners want to make sure she stays alive so when she disobeys Elizabeth what else is she to do to the threat to her crown. This is the tale of two cousins who are both fighting to stay in power but England is not big enough for two queens so one has to go. 


The Taming of The Queen

Release Date -  13th August 2015 

Synopsis - Why would a woman marry a serial killer?

Because she cannot refuse...

Kateryn Parr, a thirty-year-old widow in a secret affair with a new lover, has no choice when a man old enough to be her father who has buried four wives – King Henry VIII – commands her to marry him.

Kateryn has no doubt about the danger she faces: the previous queen lasted sixteen months, the one before barely half a year. But Henry adores his new bride and Kateryn's trust in him grows as she unites the royal family, creates a radical study circle at the heart of the court, and rules the kingdom as regent.

But is this enough to keep her safe? A leader of religious reform and a published author, Kateryn stands out as an independent woman with a mind of her own. But she cannot save the Protestants, under threat for their faith, and Henry's dangerous gaze turns on her.The traditional churchmen and rivals for power accuse her of heresy - the punishment is death by fire and the king's name is on the warrant...

From an author who has described all of Henry's queens comes a deeply intimate portrayal of the last: a woman who longed for passion, power and education at the court of a medieval killer.

Review coming soon 

Until Next Time 

Happy Reading 

Peyton