Sarah Gristwood

Sarah Gristwood celebrates the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II and how her enduring popularity was tantamount to her many supporters. The twists and turns of her life follow her teenage years during the war, marrying the Duke of Edinburgh and her ascension to the throne. An internationally admired figure, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the most high-profile monarch in the world, who endured wide-ranging popularity. Spanning from 1926 to the end of her reign in 2022, Elizabeth: The Queen and the Crown reveals the story behind Britains longest-reigning monarchs extraordinary life. Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Her Majestys life and its key turning points including her teenage years during World War II, meeting and marrying Prince Philip of Greece, later the Duke of Edinburgh, and her accession to the throne in 1952. Split into chapters covering different periods of her life, from Apprenticeship (19261956), Being Queen (19561986) to Change, Celebration and Commemoration (19862022), the book charts the extraordinary events in the Queens life alongside the everyday duties of her role as monarch.

A BBC History Magazine Book of the YearOne of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation. Tracy BormanIn this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the loyal and most assured servant of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature, but now with life-and-death consequences for the protagonists. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation.

"[A] gem of a book . . . enlivened by incisive analysis, exquisite detail and an elegant and witty style." -- Alison Weir The Wars of the Roses, which tore apart the ruling Plantagenet family in fifteenth-century England, was truly a domestic drama, as fraught and intimate as any family feud before or since. But as acclaimed historian Sarah Gristwood reveals, while the events of this turbulent time are usually described in terms of the men who fought and died seeking the throne, a handful of powerful women would prove just as decisive as their kinfolks clashing armies. A richly drawn, absorbing epic, Blood Sisters reveals how women helped to end the Wars of the Roses, paving the way for the Tudor age -- and the creation of modern England.

Totally addictive. Alice Loxton, The Daily TelegraphAn intriguing, highly snackable guide to womens experiences. IndependentA modern classic. Alison Weir, author and historianThe sort of book you return to again and again. Tracy Borman, author and historian A captivating collection of daily extracts from womens diaries, looking back over four centuries to discover how womens experience of men and children, sex and shopping, work and the natural world has changed down the years. And, of course, how it hasnt. Organised around the calendar year, in this engaging anthology youll find Lady Anne Clifford in the seventeenth century and Loran Hurnscot in the twentieth both stoically recording the demands of an unreasonable husband; Joan Wyndham and Anne Frank, at much the same time, but in wildly different settings, describing their first experiences with sex; and Anne Lister (TVs Gentleman Jack) in eighteenth-century Yorkshire exploring her love affairs with women alongside Alice Walker in twentieth-century California. With several selections for each day, from the 1st January to the 31st December, this book is a fascinating record of how women were thinking, feeling and reacting to historical events. From Virginia Woolf relishing her new haircut and Oprah Winfrey meditating on her career to Emilie Davis chronicling the death of Abraham Lincoln and teenage Ma Yan yearning for education in poverty-stricken China, Secret Voices contains a rich mix of well-known diarists and less familiar ones, and often the voices echoing down the centuries sound eerily familiar today.

A BBC History magazine Book of the Year and an amazon.com Best Book of the MonthAs religion divided sixteenth-century Europe, an extraordinary group of women rose to power. They governed nations while kings fought in foreign lands. They ruled on behalf of nephews, brothers and sons. They negotiated peace between their warring nations. For decades, they ran Europe. Small wonder that it was in this century that the queen became the most powerful piece on the chessboard.From mother to daughter and mentor to protegee, Sarah Gristwood follows the passage of power from Isabella of Castile and Anne de Beaujeu through Anne Boleyn the woman who tipped England into religious reform and on to Elizabeth I and Jeanne dAlbret, heroine of the Protestant Reformation. Unravelling a gripping historical narrative, Gristwood reveals the stories of the queens who had, until now, been overshadowed by kings.

A BBC History Magazine Book of the YearOne of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation. Tracy BormanIn this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the loyal and most assured servant of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature, but now with life-and-death consequences for the protagonists. TheTudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation.A riveting, pacy page-turner the Tudors as youve never seen them before. Alison Weir

A double biography of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, their friendship and love affair. A double biography of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, their friendship and love affair. Virginia Woolf is one of the worlds most famous writers a leading light of literary modernism and feminism and a British icon. During the 1920s she had a passionate affair with a fellow author, Vita Sackville-West, and they remained friends until Virginias death in 1941. The hero of Virginias novel Orlando was modeled on Vita and the book has been described as one of the longest and most charming love letters in history. Thats on top of the more than 500 letters they wrote to each other. Vita & Virginia is the extraordinary account of the work, friendship and love affair of two prolific novelists, who came to redefine conventions of femininity, sexuality, art and politics for the modern world. The cultural legacies of these formidable women, enduring icons of sexual equality and female emancipation, proliferate around us today in fashion and television, film and literature. In this scrupulously researched examination of the pairs long friendship, the National Trust draws on their poetry and treasured correspondence to tell the story of this thoroughly modern affair. Both novelists have become closely associated with the National Trust. Vita is most famous today as the co-creator of Sissinghurst, one of the most influential and visited gardens in the world, while Monks House, Virginias retreat and inspiration, was a celebrated haunt of the Bloomsbury Group, that influential set of artists, thinkers and writers who lived in squares and loved in triangles.

Discover the incredible, forgotten true story of Englands lost queen and in-depth account of a key figure in Tudor history, perfect for readers of Alison Weir.A powerful story of the dynastic insecurity of the Tudors and StuartThe Sunday TimesThis is historical biography at its best...Dont miss it Alison Weir----------------------------Lady Arbella Stuarts royal bloodline suggested a glorious future. A descendant of Henry VII, niece to Mary Queen of Scots, and granddaughter to the great Tudor dynast Bess of Hardwick, Arbella was brought up in the belief that she would inherit Elizabeth Is throne.When this did not become reality, she briefly gained the independence she craved at the heart of Jacobean society.But then she made the mistake of angering her cousin, the newly crowned King James I, by secretly marrying another distant heir, William Seymour, thus strengthening her claim to the throne.The consequences would be deadly.A tale of forbidden love, disguised escape and wild flight, to an agonizing imprisonment and death in the Tower in 1615, this is the beguiling biography of an extraordinary woman who became a pawn in the power struggles of her time.Meticulously researched and drawing on a wide variety of sources, Arbella brings to life a woman who, despite the turmoil in her life, strove to love freely, speak her wrongs loudly, and - rare for a woman of her time - take charge of her own destiny.----------------------------Praise for Arbella: Englands Lost Queen:An enthralling account of an extraordinary lifeSpectatorA Jacobean tragedy Fresh, vivid and beautifully detailed Gristwood conveys it with exactly the right mixture of suspense and sympathy. IndependentWell researched and stimulating...A sad but enthralling story Evening Standard

Entrancing, compelling, and beautifully writtenThis is the historical novel as literary fiction and damned good literary fiction at that. Alison Weir Jeanne, a young French exile orphaned by the wars of religion on the continent, is brought to London as a young girl disguised as a boy. Growing up, the disguise has not been shed and she finds a living as a clerk, ending up in the household of Robert Cecil. As she witnesses the intrigues and plots swirling round the court of Elizabeth I in the last days of Glorianas reign, she finds herself sucked into the orbit of the dashing and ambitious young favourite, the Earl of Essex. The queen draws near to the end of her life, with no heir to follow, and the stakes are high. As Essex hurtles towards self-destruction, Jeanne finds her loyalties, her disguise and her emotions under threat in a political climate where the least mistake can attract dire penalties. This is a beautifully written and evocative novel, rich with the details of life and politics of Elizabeth Is court. Jeannes struggle for survival and love is interwoven with her passionate pull towards the gardens she documents, a lovely and seductive backdrop to the novel.

Sumptuousa fitting legacy for a pioneering conservationist who helped save thousands of acres of the Lake District The Mail on Sunday, August 2016 To this day, Beatrix Potters tales delight children and grown-ups around the world. But few people realise how extraordinary her own story is. She was a woman of contradictions. A sheltered Victorian daughter who grew into an astute modern businesswoman. A talented artist who became a scientific expert. A famous author who gave it all up to become a farmer. In The Story of Beatrix Potter, Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Beatrix Potters life and its key turning points including her tragically brief first engagement and happy second marriage late in life. She traces the creation of Beatrixs most famous characters including the naughty Peter Rabbit, confused Jemima Puddleduck and cheeky Squirrel Nutkin revealing how she drew on her unusual childhood pets and locations in her beloved Lake District. She explores too, the last 30 years of Potters life, when she abandoned books to become a working farmer and a pioneering conservationist, whose work with the National Trust helped to save thousands of acres of the Lake District a legacy that, like her books, continues to enrich our lives today. Main text: 30,000 words. Approx 3,000 words for captions and index.

The true story of the White Queen and more, this is a thrilling history of the extraordinary noblewomen who lived through the Wars of the Roses. The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved: Richard Duke of York, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII. But these years were also packed with womens drama and in the tales of conflicted maternity and monstrous births alive with female energy. In this completely original book, Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the Wars of the Roses. She examines, among others, Cecily Neville, who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville, the commoner who married Edward IV in secret; Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, whose love and ambition for her son knew no bounds. Until now, the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating and original, this is historical writing of the most important kind.

A short illustrated life of one of Britains most revered people of all time, covering all periods of his life but always returning to his literal and spiritual home, Chartwell. Winston Churchill is one of the best-known and most revered figures of our time, the man who led Britain through its darkest hour. The last year alone has seen two feature films of his life. Many books have been published about his life and work, but very few have looked at his life through the prism of the house he occupied for over 40 years. Chartwell is as fundamental to understanding Churchill as Hill Top is to Beatrix Potter. This Elizabethan manor cared for by the National Trust today was his inspiration, his refuge and his obsession. He had to rebuild the property almost from scratch after he bought it in 1922, spending money he could ill afford. Later he built a wall around the garden and several buildings by hand. A day away from Chartwell is a day wasted, he once said. The books introduction features a special section telling Churchills life through ten special and unusual objects at Chartwell. Featuring many rarely seen photographs, one previously unpublished, this beautifully illustrated book has an incisive text by Sarah Gristwood and Margaret Gaskin. They trace every phase of his life rebellious child, brave adventurer, political outcast, inspirational leader always circling back to Chartwell, just as the great man himself did.

This book contains everything you need to know about modern history of dress design, from the corset-free styles of 1920s flappers to the conceptual constructions of modern artists. Since Coco Chanel invented the little black dress in 1926 it has become a staple for a womans wardrobe. Even considering the many decades its been since women discovered trousers and separates, women dream of wearing glorious, glamorous gowns, whether its on the Hollywood red carpet, or perhaps on her wedding day No item of clothing has endured for longer than the dress. Yet the last century alone has seen the most radical changes of style hemlines swinging from ankle to thigh; outlines alternating between the body-hugging and the bell and our fascination with the frock has not gone away. From Gres draping to Diors New Look, from Mary Quants mini to Hussein Chalayans mechanical marvels and Kate Middletons wedding dress, this book looks at the dress in a century of fashion. Thematic chapters set out the inspirations and implications for each new change in style alongside stunning photography. A celebration of the dress in all its forms, Fabulous Frocks is sure to fire any fashionistas imagination. A glorious celebration of a hundred years of the dress Daily Mail Sarah Gristwood is a best-selling Tudor biographer, former film journalist, and commentator on royal affairs.

Isabel de castilla, Ana Bolena, Margarita Tudor, Catalina de Medicis, Ana de Francia, Margarita de Austria… Las mujeres que marcaron el mundo moderno.La Europa del siglo xvi contempló una explosión d