I’m almost caught up with the books I’ve read but haven’t reviewed. Isn’t that super exciting?
Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848 – 1868 – Cokie Roberts
This book is the third installment of Cokie Robert’s histories of American women. It looks at the lives of women in Washington, DC, leading up to the Civil War. Capital Dames is a solid and comprehensive biography of the leading women in Washington society, many of whom were friends and wound up on opposite sides in the Civil War. It’s easy to read and pairs well with her other works.
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn – Eric Ives
I bought this biography years ago for a research paper but never read it. In Tudor England history circles (wow, I’m cool), Ives’ book is the seminal biography on Anne Boleyn. Ives breaks Anne’s life down into four major sections: childhood, courtship, queenship, and fall. The result is a comprehensive and well-written overview of England’s most controversial queen. My only beef was that he doesn’t dive too much into her personal life. The focus on her time as queen is about court rituals, reviewing accounts to examine the role she played, and other public aspects of her life. I personally like to read more about the daily routine and personal interactions.
First Family: Abigail and John Adams – Joseph Ellis
This is another dual biography, and it focuses on the relationship between Abigail and John Adams. First Family isn’t a complete biography for either of the Adams because it looks at Abigail and John’s lives in the context of their relationship. This was well-written, and I enjoyed reading about their lives and their relationship.
Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII – Linda Porter
I have a full bookshelf full of books on Henry VIII’s queens, so I decided to grab the one I’ve had the longest that I hadn’t read. Katherine the Queen challenges the idea that Henry married Katherine because he wanted a nurse. She was an intelligent and talented woman who navigated four marriages through the tumultuous times during the last ten years of Henry VIII’s reign. I would recommend this biography if you are interested in the Tudor queens.
Marie Antoinette: The Journey – Antonia Fraser
Another seminal biography: this time examining the life of Marie Antoinette. Antonia Fraser wrote an almost-exhaustive biography on the most famous Queen of France, tracing her life from an Austrian Archduchess to the courts of Versailles. It is a bit long, but if you’re going to read one biography on Marie Antoinette, this should be it.
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