Mary Queen Of Scots - Softcover

Antonia Fraser

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749301082 ISBN 13: 9780749301088

Publisher: Arrow (UK), 1989

Synopsis

More than four hundred years after her death, Mary Queen of Scots remains one of the most romantic and controversial figures in British history. Antonia Fraser's classic biography of her won the James Tait Prize when it was first published in 1969, became an international bestseller and was translated into nine languages. Mary passed her childhood in France and married the Dauphin to become Queen of France at the age of sixteen. Widowed less than two years later, she returned to Scotland as Queen after an absence of thirteen years. Her life then entered its best known phas: the early struggles with John Knox, and the unruly Scottish nobility; the fatal marriage to Darnley and his mysterious death; her marriage to Bothwell, the chief suspect, that led directly to her long English captivity at the hands of Queen Elizabeth; the poignant and extraordinary story of her long imprisonment that ended with the labyrinthine Babington plot to free her, and her execution at the age of forty-four. Antonia Fraser's biography, four years in the writing, enters fully into the life of an historical figure who continues to capture the popular imagination, and provides a moving answer to the question, What was Mary Queen of Scots really like?' Lady Antonia Fraser tells Mary's story movingly and yet witih scholarship, insight and balance. It is the sort of biography of Mary which has long been needed.' The Scotsman A fluent narrative style, a perfect eye for physical detail, a rich sense of the black comedy that the period demands and a high feeling for the central tragedy' Sunday Times

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“A book that will leave few readers unmoved.”
— San Francisco Chronicle

“She was sometimes reviled as a scheming whore, sometimes revered as a misunderstood martyr. But she was invariably regarded as fascinating. Antonia Fraser’s richly readable biography demonstrates that Mary’s great fascination continues unabated.”
— Time

“One of the most fascinating figures in history.”
— The Columbus Dispatch

“Compassionate, illuminating, rich in human interest.”
— The New York Times

“With grace, sensitivity and a sharp eye for detail, Lady Antonia Fraser has succeeded not only in recapturing the real Mary from the symbol but also in illuminating the chaotic age in which she lived.”
— Newsweek

From the Inside Flap:

Author of Marie Antoinette
She was the quintessential queen: statuesque, regal, dazzlingly beautiful. Her royal birth gave her claim to the thrones of two nations; her marriage to the young French dauphin promised to place a third glorious crown on her noble head.
Instead, Mary Stuart became the victim of her own impulsive heart, scandalizing her world with a foolish passion that would lead to abduction, rape and even murder. Betrayed by those she most trusted, she would be lured into a deadly game of power, only to lose to her envious and unforgiving cousin, Elizabeth I.
Here is her story, a queen who lost a throne for love, a monarch pampered and adored even as she was led to her beheading, the unforgettable woman who became a legend for all time.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow (UK)
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0749301082
• ISBN 13: 9780749301088
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 720