Elizabeth and Mary
Subtitle: cousins, rivals, queens
By: Jane Dunn.
Edition: 1st American ed.
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; Distributed by Random House
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 453
Subjects: Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603.; Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603 -- Relations with Scots.; Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603 -- Family.; Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587 -- Family.; Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587.; Queens -- Great Britain -- Biography.; Queens -- Scotland -- Biography.; Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Succession -- History -- 16th century.; Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth, 1558-1603.; Scotland -- History -- Mary Stuart, 1542-1567.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "In the first dual biography of two of the world's most remarkable women - Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots - Jane Dunn reveals the extraordinary rivalry between the regal cousins. It is the story of two queens ruling on one island, each with a claim to the throne of England, each embodying dramatically opposing qualities of character, ideals of womanliness (and views of sexuality) and divinely ordained kingship." "As regnant queens in an overwhelmingly masculine world, they were deplored for their femaleness, compared unfavorably with each other and courted by the same men. By placing their dynamic and ever-changing relationship at the center of the book, Dunn illuminates their differences. Elizabeth, inheriting a weak, divided country coveted by all the Catholic monarchs of Europe, is revolutionary in her insistence on ruling alone and inspired in her use of celibacy as a political tool - yet also possessed of a deeply feeling nature. Mary is not the romantic victim of history but a courageous adventurer with a reckless heart and a magnetic influence over men and women alike. Vengeful against her enemies and the more ruthless of the two queens, she is untroubled by plotting Elizabeth's murder. Elizabeth, however, is driven to anguish at finally having to sanction Mary's death for treason. Working almost exclusively from contemporary letters and writings, Dunn explores their symbiotic, though never face-to-face, relationship and the power struggle that raged between them."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [437]-439) and index.
"Originally published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers, London, in 2003"--T.p. verso.