John Guy

A TLS TIMES PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARA groundbreaking examination of how the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sent shockwaves across a continent and changed England forever In many places where once we had speculation we now have certainty This book is at once an education and a joy to read LITERARY REVIEW Combines meticulously researched history and contemporary voices with narrative flair SUNDAY TIMES Anne Boleyn comes alive in this impressive study Moves and informs THE TIMES The most cogent narrative reading of the evidence to date SPECTATORThe story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is one of the most remarkable in history a long courtship followed by a shotgun wedding and then a coronation ending just short of three years later when a husband s passion turned to such hatred that he simply wanted his wife gone In Hunting the Falcon John Guy and Julia Fox examine the most recent archival discoveries and peel back layers of historical myth to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways They show how Anne and Henry s relationship was tied almost completely to the major events of international politics at one of the great turning points of European history and dispel any assumptions that a sixteenth century woman even a que

La vida de María Estuardo (1542-1587, hija de Jaime V y María de Guisa, estuvo marcada desde el principio por una tenaz y despiadada lucha por el poder que creía merecer legítimamente. Acusada de participar en el asesinato de su primer marido, lord Darnley, y obligada a abdicar como reina de Escocia, se refugio en la corte de Inglaterra, donde intento hacer prevalecer sus derechos al trono frente a Isabel I. Desde las laberinticas tramas urdidas por la nobleza escocesa para ampliar sus cotas de poder, hasta los esfuerzos de los nismtros de Isabel I para deslegitimar sus aspiraciones al trono ingles y su posterior ejecucion, John Guy ofrece al lector un brillante recorrido por la trayectoria de una mujer fascinante, misteriosa y enigmatica, al tiempo que refuta muchos de los topicos que se han vertido sobre ella. Su ejecucion, unico desenlace posible de una vida como la suya, desencadeno una guerra abierta entre Inglaterra y España. La nueva y escrupulosa lectura de las celebres Cartas Casket permite a John Guy esclarecer los entresijos del asesinato de lord Darnley, dignos de la mas intensa novela negra. Esta obra obtuvo el premio Whitbread.

Photographer Steve McCurry has beautifully and evocatively photographed the temples of Angkor in Cambodia, among the world's most impressive monuments. Over one hundred of his images of the site are collected in this, which documents a magical world of carved Gods, weathered masonry, tangled vegetation and orange-robed monks.

A masterful biographyAmanda ForemanA gripping story of Queen Elizabeths last years, authoritatively researched and engagingly recounted by the leading Tudor historian of our age James Shapiro, author of 1599 and 1606____________________An ageing queen, an heirless state, conspiracy all round: here is the court of Elizabeth I as never known beforeHistory has pictured Elizabeth I as Gloriana, an icon of strength and power. But the reality, especially during her later years, was not so simple.In 1583 Elizabeth is fifty years old, but her greatest challenges are still to come: the Spanish Armada; the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; relentless plotting among her courtiers. This gripping and vivid portrait of her life and times - often told in her own words (You know I am no morning woman) - reveals a woman who is fallible, increasingly insecure, and struggling to lead Britain. This is the real Elizabeth, for the first time.____________________One of the very best historians we have in the country . . . It is brilliant, vigorous history, and a triumph of storytelling and scholarship Jessie Childs, TelegraphThe best biography ever written of the Virgin Queen- a revisionist, sensitive, compelling, majestic masterwork that you cant put down Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Evening StandardGuys careful work with documents known and unknown allows him to paint a novel portrait of a complex - maybe even unknowable - queen John Gallagher, Guardian

From Thomas Beckets early life as a merchants son and his time as the Archbishop of Canterbury to his assassination in the Cathedral itself, this enlightening book brings to life a colossal figure of British history. Lively, effortlessly readable, superb. A beautifully layered portrait of one of the most complex characters in English historyThe Times ____________________This is the man, not the legend . . .Thomas Becket lived at the centre of medieval England. Son of a drapers merchant, he was befriended and favoured by Henry II and quickly ascended the rungs of power and privilege. He led 700 knights into battle, brokered peace between warring states and advised King and Pope. Yet he lost it all defying his closest friend and King, resulting in his bloody murder and the birth of a saint. In award-winning biographer John Guys masterful account, the life, death and times of Thomas Becket come vividly into focus. ____________________Suspenseful, meticulously researched . . . however well you think you know the story, it is well worth the readFinancial TimesWonderfully moving and subtle. Reading of the assassination is almost unbearably intense and brings tears to ones eyeDaily ExpressCompelling, marvellously measured, entertainingly astute, and in places positively movingTheIndependentScintillates with energetic scene-setting, giving us a tactile, visual feel for early medieval England . . . breathes new life into an oft-told taleFinancial Times

Now a major film, this is a dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians of this period.For centuries, Mary, Queen of Scots has been a figure of scholarly debate. Where many have portrayed her as the weak woman to Elizabeths rational leader, John Guy reassesses the young queen, finding her far more politically shrewd than previously believed.Crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months old, Queen of France by age sixteen and widowed the following year, Guy paints Mary as a commanding and savvy queen who navigated the European power struggles of the time to her advantage.Her life was one of drama and conflict - Scottish lords constructed labyrinthine plots to wrest power from her and attempts to prove her claim to the English throne were thwarted by English ministers bent on protecting Elizabeth.My Heart is My Own re-examines the original sources, resulting in a riveting new argument surrounding Marys involvement in her husband Lord Darnelys murder and her subsequent marriage to his suspected assassin.Guys accessible treatment of the well-trodden story, his deft storytelling and insightful new arguments provide compelling and dramatic reading.An absorbing biography . . . meticulously researched . . . scholarly and intriguing Peter Ackroyd,The TimesRarely have first-class scholarship and first-class storytelling been so effectively combined John Adamson, Daily TelegraphJohn Guy is an award-winning historian, accomplished broadcaster and a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. His previous books include the highly acclaimed dual biography A Daughters Love: Thomas and Margaret More a history, Tudor England, which has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and a biography of Thomas Becket, published in 2012.

Leading British historian John Guy, author of Thomas Becket and My Heart is My Own, uncovers one of the most touching and compelling family relationships in history in A Daughters Love.Sir Thomas More is a stalwart figure of British history. Lord Chancellor in Henry Tudors government, opposed to Henry VIIIs marriage to Anne Boleyn and famously executed for treason, he is a well-studied and eminent figure.John Guys revealing new work sheds light on a little known aspect of More, as a politician and as a man. His daughter Margaret played a key role in Mores private and public life, but has been all but hidden from his story.Neglected from previous historical works, A Daughters Love uses original sources to reveal a deep and loving relationship between father and daughter. Margaret, a prodigy encouraged by her father, was highly skilled in Latin and Greek, even emending texts from the prominent scholar Erasmus. She became her fathers advisor, confidante and friend, exchanging long, loving letters during his incarceration and providing comfort in his final hours. It is these letters, which she smuggled from the Tower, that provide compelling new insights into the famed politician.A Daughters Love is a riveting new portrait of Thomas More and the daughter who played a central role in his life and work, from one of Britains most acclaimed historians.An arresting reassessment . . . An outstanding talent for stop-the-reader-dead-in-their-tracks gripping storytelling. Guys convincing page-turner of a double life has restored my faith in biography as a genre Lisa Jardine, Sunday TimesGripping . . . Guys scholarship is irreproachableIndependent on SundayBrilliantly observed and told . . . [Guys] absorbing, thoroughly researched book does justice to two exemplary women - and reminds us that history is full of ironies Claire Tomalin, The NewYork TimesJohn Guy is an award-winning historian, accomplished broadcaster and a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. His previous books include My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots, winner of the 2004 Whitbread Biography Award and the Marsh Biography Award, a history, Tudor England, which has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and a biography of Thomas Becket published in 2012.

WINNER OF THE WHITBREAD BIOGRAPHY AWARDNow a major film, this is a dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians of this period.For centuries, Mary, Queen of Scots has been a figure of scholarly debate. Where many have portrayed her as the weak woman to Elizabeths rational leader, John Guy reassesses the young queen, finding her far more politically shrewd than previously believed.Crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months old, Queen of France by age sixteen and widowed the following year, Guy paints Mary as a commanding and savvy queen who navigated the European power struggles of the time to her advantage in a life of drama and conflict. Re-examining the original sources, resulting in a riveting new argument surrounding Marys involvement in her husband murder, Guys deft storytelling and insightful new arguments provide compelling and dramatic reading.An absorbing biography . . . meticulously researched . . . scholarly and intriguing Peter Ackroyd, The TimesRarely have first-class scholarship and first-class storytelling been so effectively combined John Adamson, Daily Telegraph

Charismatic, insatiable and cruel, Henry VIII was, as John Guy shows, a king who became mesmerized by his own legend - and in the process destroyed and remade England. Said to be a pillager of the commonwealth, this most instantly recognizable of kings remains a figure of extreme contradictions: magnificent and vengeful; a devout traditionalist who oversaw a cataclysmic rupture with the church in Rome; a talented, towering figure who nevertheless could not bear to meet peoples eyes when he talked to them. In this revealing new account, John Guy looks behind the mask into Henrys mind to explore how he understood the world and his place in it - from his isolated upbringing and the blazing glory of his accession, to his desperate quest for fame and an heir and the terrifying paranoia of his last, agonising, 54-inch-waisted years.

A fierce, scholarly tour-de-force. . . . Hunting the Falcon brilliantly shows how time, circumstance and politics combined to accelerate Annes triumph and tragedy." Tina Brown, New York Times Book ReviewA sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue, and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics.Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of DevonshireA groundbreaking, freshly-researched work of Tudor history and a dual historical biography that examines one of the most dramatic and consequential marriages in history: Henry VIIIs long courtship, short union, and brutal execution of Anne Boleyn.Hunting the Falcon is the story of how Henry VIIIs obsessive desire for Anne Boleyn changed him and his country forever. John Guy and Julia Fox, two of the most acclaimed and distinguished historians of this period, have joined forces to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. By closely examining the most recent archival discoveries, and peeling back layers of historical myth and misinterpretation and distortion, Guy and Fox are able to set Anne and Henrys tragic relationship against the major international events of the time, and integrate and reinterpret sources hidden in plain sight or simply misunderstood. Among other things, they dispel lingering and latently misogynistic assumptions about Anne, offering a fresh perspective on women in history by challenging the anachronistic presumption that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little to no influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. They reveal how, in fact, Anne was a shrewd, if ruthless, politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies, often against the advice he received from his male advisersand whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign. Hunting the Falcon sets the factsand some completely new findsinto a far wider frame, providing an appreciation of this misunderstood and underestimated woman. It explores how Anne organized her side of the royal court on novel and (in male eyes) subversive lines compared to her queenly predecessors, adopting instead French protocol by which the sexes mingled freely in her private chambers. Men could share in the womens often sexually charged courtly pastimes and had liberal access to Anne, and she to themencounters steeped in political intrigue from which she gained much of her intelligence and extended her authority, and which also sowed the seeds of her own downfall. An exhilarating feat of historical research and analysis, Hunting the Falcon is also a thrilling and tragic story of a marriage that has proved of enduring fascination over the centuries. But in the hands of John Guy and Julia Fox, even the most knowledgeable reader will encounter this story as if for the first time.This rich and impeccably researched account of royal history delivers:A Fresh Perspective on Anne Boleyn: See how Anne was not a passive victim but a shrewd and ruthless politician in her own right, one who actively steered Henrys policies and was nearly made his joint sovereign. Deep Archival Research: Go beyond the myths as the authors examine the most recent archival discoveries to reinterpret sources hidden in plain sight. Tudor Court Politics: Explore the subversive, French-style court Anne created where the sexes mingled freely, giving her unprecedented access to intelligenceand sowing the seeds of her downfall. A Nation-Changing Obsession: Understand the full impact of Henry VIIIs desire for Anne, a relationship that forever altered him, his court, and the course of British history.