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The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen and the King's Mother
The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen and the King's Mother
The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen and the King's Mother
Audiobook9 hours

The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen and the King's Mother

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

#1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory joins two eminent historians to explore the extraordinary true stories of three women largely forgotten by history: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford; Elizabeth Woodville, queen of England; and Margaret Beaufort, the founder of the Tudor dynasty.

In her essay on Jacquetta, Philippa Gregory uses original documents, archaeology, and histories of myth and witchcraft to create the first-ever biography of the young duchess who survived two reigns and two wars to become the first lady at two rival courts. David Baldwin, established authority on the Wars of the Roses, tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the first commoner to marry a king of England for love. And Michael Jones, fellow of the Royal Historical Society, writes of Margaret Beaufort, the almost-unknown matriarch of the House of Tudor.

Beautifully illustrated throughout with rare portraits and source materials, The Women of the Cousins’ War offers fascinating insights into the inspirations behind Philippa Gregory’s fiction and will appeal to all with an interest in this epic period.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 13, 2011
ISBN9781442344921
Author

Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned author of historical novels. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. Works that have been adapted for television include A Respectable Trade, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool. The Other Boleyn Girl is now a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family.

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Reviews for The Women of the Cousins' War

Rating: 4.125 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Women of the Cousins War* by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones. Non-fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed the pieces on Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort, each written by the subject?s major biographer. Philippa Gregory?s contribution is on Jacquetta Woodville (Elizabeth?s mother and the subject of her book, The Lady of the Rivers) as well as a lengthy introduction on women in history and history in historical fiction. Since there is very little that?s really known about her subject, Gregory is forced into lots of ?maybes?, ?perhaps? and ?could haves?. I liked her introduction much more and even though I don?t agree with a lot of her theories, it was interesting to hear her point of view on the topic and how she approaches writing her novels. 4 stars (based on the contributions of Baldwin and Jones)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is an excellent companion piece to the series of books about the women who probably had more to do with the Tudor dynasty than they are given credit for. The book is broken into three parts, each written by a different author to give a place in history to these fascinating women. The wonderful introduction by Gregory explains that women were very rarely mentioned and record keeping about them, is spotty at best. By piecing together historical documents, letters and conjecture, it is possible to recreate the importance these women had in the history of the ruling class. The first section written by Gregory sparkles with her familiar style of bringing history to life and covers Jaquetta, the Duchess of Bedford and her rise in English Royalty. The next section written by Baldwin details the ascent of Elizabeth Woodville answers many questions about her life, but it lacked a bit in the sparkle department. The last section, written by Jones, reveals Margaret Beaufort, who I disliked in The Red Queen, but now understand a bit better. This is a must read for anyone that wants a better understanding of the lives of these women.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am not a history buff by any means at all. However, I can happily attribute my introduction to historical fiction to Philippa Gregory and her books (in particular, The Other Boleyn Girl). I was never particularly interested in history growing up and I found the textbooks too boring and difficult to understand. I loved reading, but that was because I loved the stories. Gregory's books does a great job of tying the two together in an interesting way. I always had an interest in medieval times - which little girl doesn't want to know more about kings, queens, princes and princesses? However, Gregory's books were the first ones to get me hooked into historical fiction as a genre, with a special liking towards all things medieval. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book and honestly, I was a little apprehensive once the book arrived and it was pretty thick! It reminded me of the history textbook days and I was a little anxious that I wouldn't enjoy it, but I was very wrong! There are moments when the sentences run a little long and there are so many facts thrown at you at one time that it can get confusing for a reader like myself, who is not used to reading non-fiction historical books. However, it was a very enjoyable read about three women who are not written about very much, if at all, in history, but had such an huge impact on the more well-known time of the Tudors. The book itself reads like a novel and that made it easy for me to read, coming from a historical fiction side rather than the history side.Gregory starts off the book with an introduction about history, historical fiction and women in history. I found it very interesting and reaffirmed what I already knew about Gregory - that she is an incredibly intelligent woman herself very well-versed in all things related to medieval times. I also enjoyed learning more about her process in writing historical fiction.I have read most of the Gregory's books in the Tudors period and often times found myself stopping to go to Wikipedia to read up more on the historical figures before proceeding through the rest of the book. I think this book would be a great book to have alongside while reading her series on The Cousins' War.The book is written in three sections. Gregory writes the first section about Jacquetta, the Duchess of Bedford. Baldwin writes about Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England. Lastly, Jones writes about Margaret Beaufort, who ultimately ends up being the grandmother of Henry VIII. Each author does a great job of piecing together historical documents to put together a biographical account of their lives. It did not read like a history book at all and at times I had to remind myself that I was reading a non-fiction book, not a fictional story.Overall, I think Gregory, Baldwin and Jones do a great job of giving these women a place in history. I think all fans of Gregory's books, especially the The Cousins' War series, will find this companion book a very enjoyable and interesting read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a non-fiction book. I have seen reviews where people read it thinking it was a novel and were disappointed - of course they were! Real history is never as fleshed out as an historical novel especially they further back you go in time. That does not mean it has to be a trial to read.This book was NOT a trial; it was very easy to read and very informative. Each author took one of the three woman that Ms. Gregory had profiled in her trilogy covering what most people know as The War of the Roses but what was known in its time as The Cousins' War. Ms. Gregory also provides a very extensive introduction as to the origins of the book and the difficulties in writing about people from the time period and about women in particular.Ms. Gregory explains in that introduction that there is very little historical record left about the three women profiled; Jacquetta Woodville, Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort and yet the book is sold as a tome about them. In this I was a touch disappointed - I suppose I wanted to know more about them but there is only so much to be known. The three separate histories were all very well written and I came away with a much deeper comfort level of the whos and whats of The Cousins War. It is a truly confusing time in history given that many of the names are quite similar and families were fighting each other. This is a very interesting history of the time written from three distinct points of view.Each author presents the events as they effect and surround his subject and while the facts do not change the players in each section do and that offers slight variations that make each woman a fascinating study. I cannot fault the authors that history did not leave more of a record and I want to know more. It was a time period when women were considered chattel if they were considered at all.I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book being the history geek that I am. If you are at all interested in this subject this would be a good book to help sort out the basics. As I said it is not at all dry and dusty and you will find yourselves drawn into a time when cousins were killing each other to try and rule England.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have actually never reviewed non-fiction before, and in the end I have not read much either, since my non-fiction mostly consists of uni textbooks (and none that exciting as this one). After having read all 3 books by Philippa Gregory it was interesting to read this book since this one is all fact and thoughts about these three women. But how to review is the question. I can't say I did not like something that happens since it is what happened. So I looked at is this way, was it boring and made me fall asleep? The question to that is no. It was never dry.

    Philippa Gregory has written the first part about Jacquetta and she tells the story from cradle to grave. The little that is known about this fascinating woman. I do love any woman who went her on way at a time where your father, husband, brother or king ruled you. Sure many other women went their own way, but I just like how she married so far beneath her status, she must have loved him so and I am a sucker for that.

    The next part is by David Baldwin and he tells the story about Elizabeth Woodville. I will always like the Woodville family and they are just so slandered, it is horrible. They were certainly not the first family to gain lands, titles and money when someone from their family caught a king's eye. And even if her husband was a terrible womanizer I will always like their story, lust at first sight ;)

    The last part is by Michael Jones and it is about Margaret Beaufort (whom I called the bitch in The Red Queen). It is strange to say that you do not like someone that has lived and you have never met, but I just do not like it (but her story is a good one), and I certainly do not like her son Henry Tudor. Lol, I have a strange aversion for all the Tudors for some reason. Well starting from Henry. Oh and I am sure these two killed the princes in the tower, ok, I am just blaming them since I dislike them.

    All in all 3 good authors writing about 3 interesting women, that history has vilified or as with Margaret made all saintly and good. It is not perhaps a book you read at once. No, you can read one section and then read another another day. History is not going anywhere.

    Conclusion:
    A good book to read after reading this series, or a good book to make you want to read the Cousin's War books.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As someone who doesn't read very much nonfiction, I was a little apprehensive about reading The Women of the Cousins' War, but I was so fascinated by Elizabeth Woodville of The White Queen and Margaret Beaufort of The Red Queen, that I was drawn to this book, especially since it comes from Philippa Gregory. For the book, Gregory teamed up with two other historians, David Baldwin and Michael Jones, to explore the real lives of the women behind her novels.Gregory opens the book was a unique introduction that explores the role (or lack thereof) of women in history, as well as Gregory's personal reasons for writing novels about this little-known women. Most interestingly, she gives readers a glimpse into her own writing process, own own motivations for writing what she does, and the difficulties of doing historical research that lead to large holes that are later filled in with fiction.Gregory takes the lead with the first essay on Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville. Gregory explains that when she went to research Jacquetta for her novel The Lady of the Rivers, there was no biography available about her, so she had to conduct her own research to learn about Jacquetta. Gregory pens a fascinating account of Jacquetta's life, tracing it from her birth up to her death and through the many complex politics between. Of all the essays in the book, I found Gregory's to be the easiest to read and enjoy, mostly because it pulls on her fiction writing abilities and seems to explore more of her subject's motivations and emotions than the other essays.Next comes David Baldwin, who pens an essay on the life of Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta's daughter. Though filled with precise accuracy, I found it to be a little bit dry and difficult to read. This was probably because my brain had honed into Gregory's style in the previous essay, and Baldwin chose to stick more strongly to fact, and didn't theorize much on what Elizabeth likely thought or felt. While informative, I wouldn't consider Baldwin's essay light reading.Last, historian Michael Jones chronicles the life of Margaret Beaufort, the virtually unknown matriarch of the Tudor family and grandmother to Henry VIII. Thankfully, Jones' writing reads much more smoothly than Baldwin's, and I particularly enjoyed the fact that Jones went further back than Margaret's birth to discuss the unique origins of the Beaufort family. Giving all this back story really helped to put Margaret and her life into context, and I felt like I had a greater understanding of Margaret's "character." Also, I kind of hate to say it, but I found Jones' short essay on Margaret to be a little more interesting than The Red Queen, which I thought was the weaker of Gregory's first two novels on the Cousins' War.A must-read for history buffs and hardcore Gregory fans, Women of the Cousins' War helps to reveal who these little-known women were and why their lives are worth the study and interest of people today. Complete with family trees, maps, portraits and other images of the period, the lives of these fascinating women from history fully come to life.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The book is the biography of three women involved in the Cousin's War (War of the Roses). It's a readable account attempting to restore these women to their rightful position in history, acknowledging their power and political acumen in very turbulent times.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    interesting even though there is not much info on these dollies.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not as much info as I would like about these woman, though Gregory does explain in her introduction that a lot just doesn't exist on woman from that time period as well as others. Unless a woman was involved in something big in her day, like Joan of Arc, there just isn't detailed written records. It is however well written, did like what was there, and the bibliography and introduction is very informative and interesting.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a study by three authors of three powerful figures in 15th century England during the latter stages of the Hundred Years War and throughout the conflict now known as the Wars of the Roses. The three figures are: Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, wife of Duke John who was English regent of France during the minority of Henry VI (by the popular historical novelist Philippa Gregory, who also provides an introduction to the overall book which contains some interesting ideas on the role of women in historiography); Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta's daughter and wife of Edward IV (by David Baldwin, who has written a full length biography of this subject); and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and who also lived to see her grandson Henry VIII accede to the throne and marry Katherine of Aragon (by Michael Jones, who has also written a full length biography of this subject).I thought Jones's piece on Margaret Beaufort was the best of the three, a well written and balanced account of the life and career of a remarkable and, by the standards of the time, long lived major figure, dying at the age of 66. From her tragic early experience of being impregnated by Edmund Tudor when she was only 12 and personally negotiating a second marriage when she was still not yet 14, she was an able and astute politician, ambitious for her only son, with whom she had a very close relationship throughout the 24 years of his reign.Baldwin offers a spirited and to me convincing defence of Elizabeth Woodville from many of the accusations of grasping ambition which are often thrown at her and her family, though in context, they were no worse than others who achieved prominence at this time.I thought Gregory's piece on Jacquetta was slightly less satisfactory (she has apparently written other history as well as historical novels, though I am not clear what other non-fiction she has written), but it offers a perspective on an important female figure who is less well known than the other two, but who nevertheless played a key role in the highest political circles in the middle part of the century.An interesting perspective on this crucial period of English history.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I don't get on well with Philippa Gregory's fiction, so I'm not terribly surprised that I wasn't a great fan of this either. I do like David Baldwin's work, though I think I've already read a full biography of Elizabeth Woodville by him; Michael Jones' work here is strong enough and based solidly enough on actual research to intrigue me. I actually quite liked Gregory's introduction, ridiculously long as it is. She does actually raise valid points about the writers of history, and about how historical fiction and historical fact interact. I can at least relate to her powerful interest in the subject. On the other hand, there's very little actually known about Jacquetta, the biography she writes, and it reads very much like the fiction books she's already written, stripped of dialogue and sprinkled with "maybe".Overall, I can see this being interesting to people casually interested in the period, with enough experience of non-fiction not to complain too much about the equivocal statements (guys, if they stuck to the facts we know for absolute certain, we could say they were born, married, had children, and died -- often, that's about it; if we presented speculation as fact, that would be rather dishonest and not helpful at all to the field). I can't really recommend it for people who've already delved into non-fiction on the period: this doesn't offer much of anything new.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    ? ?There is no place for them? ? how that echoes down the years!?This non-fiction volume has been published to accompany Gregory?s three novels about the women of The Cousins? War (mostly known as The War of the Roses these days): Jacquetta, Elizabeth and Margaret. Inside, Ms Gregory gives us an introduction on why such a volume is absolutely necessary, as well as a considered biography of Jacquetta. David Baldwin profiles Elizabeth and Michael Jones includes a piece on Margaret.Having read all three novels (and very much enjoyed them), I was fascinated by the idea of having the historical record juxtaposed against them. My long distrust of history and non-fiction was absolutely justified when it turns out to be pretty dull ? mostly all that is left are housekeeping accounts (so we know exactly what food was ordered when Edward IV dined with Margaret Beaufort and her husband) and court documents in which women are relegated to the margins, almost literally.The volume didn?t really add anything to the novels for me ? I?d rather have stayed with the women as characters in my head; I find it easier to suspend that connection to the real world (even if I know these are real people from history) if I don?t know the details of their accounting.As one might expect, the biographers have chosen the slants that Gregory chose (or vice versa) for her novels: Margaret as a devious politician, Elizabeth as a caring wife and homemaker, proud of her royal husband and unforgiving of those who wronged him, and Jacquetta as ambitious, loving and clever. The authors are at pains to point out that these are by no means the only interpretations; I felt the point was a little laboured when the perspectives and the novels align so neatly.However, the book is well worth reading solely for Gregory?s introduction. It?s not just the references to the continuing struggle of women to be taken seriously in the classical music world (a matter close to my heart due to family connections), but the fact that the 35-page introduction gives a very solid grounding to the lay reader in the conflicts arising for biographers of previously minimally-documented persons.Fans of non-fiction, particularly historical biography, would no doubt enjoy this far more than I did.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    One of my favorite subjects and it was quite interesting for the most part...but at times it was quite difficult to stay focused on and I found myself needing to rewind those sections several times.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Three authors recall the lives of three women who were prominent figures during the Wars of the Roses. Philippa Gregory first covers the little-known life of Jacquetta of Luxemburg. So little-known was this woman that most of this section recounts events that occurred during the Wars of the Roses and the author just speculates whether her main subject was present or how she was affected. On one hand this is disappointing, as the reader learns little of Jacquetta; however, on the other hand, this is a fascinating historical period. Being familiar with the Wars of the Roses meant that I was a little let down though, as I was left reading matters known to me and not learning much about the author?s main subject. Personally, I feel the first of the three women discussed should?ve been Margret of Anjou, who became Henry VI?s queen, as there is much more info on her, plus she was a much more involved in events of the time than Jacquetta was.Next up is Jacquetta?s daughter, Elizabeth Woodville, who became Edward IV?s wife, Edward V?s mother, and Henry VIII?s grandmother. Her life story is easier to recall than her mother?s for obvious reasons. David Baldwin?s account of this former English queen is very good, as is Michael Jones?s recollections of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and, essentially, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. In short, for those familiar with the Wars of the Roses, there is little new info here, but it?s a book still worth checking out. For those unfamiliar with the period and want to know more, then I believe such a reader will enjoy this biography.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have been reading alot of historical fiction about the Tudor/Plantagenet Dynasty lately so this was great being able to get the history and skip the fiction for a change. Very well written and as usual, Bianca Amato made it that much better to listen to.