A myth-busting biography of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, which retells the dramatic story of the civil war from her perspective

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE

Henrietta Maria, Charles I's queen, is the most reviled consort in British history. Condemned as the 'Popish brat of France' and a 'notorious whore', she remains in popular memory the woman who turned the king Catholic - so causing a civil war - and a cruel and bigoted mother.

Leanda de Lisle unpicks these myths to reveal a very different queen. We meet a new bride who enjoyed annoying her uptight husband, who was a passionate advocate for the female voice in public affairs and who, when civil war came, proved crucial to Charles's campaign. The image of the Restoration queen as an irrelevant crone is replaced with Henrietta Maria as an influential 'phoenix queen'. It is time to look again at this despised queen and judge if she is not in fact one of our most remarkable.


'Brilliantly written, mesmerising, superb scholarship and totally immersive... A total game changer' KATE WILLIAMS, author of Rival Queens

'This is revisionist history at its absolute best' ANDREW ROBERTS author of Churchill

'Beautifully written and endlessly fascinating' ALEXANDER LARMAN author of The Crown in Crisis

'Popular history of the finest kind' RONALD HUTTON author of The Witch

About the Author
Leanda de Lisle is the highly acclaimed author of several bestselling and prize-winning books on the Tudors and Stuarts including Tudor: The Family Story and White King: The Tragedy of Charles I. She writes and speaks on historical matters for TV, radio and publications including The Times, the Spectator and History Today.

Reviews
A thrilling biography -- DANIEL BROOKS * The Daily Telegraph *
Competent, intelligent, fun... de Lisle...has a visceral understanding of the complex emotions that swirled inside Henrietta Maria * The Times, *Books of the Year* *
A shrewd and elegant reassessment of Charles's I consort and widow... She was certainly a fighter -- Clare Mulley * Spectator, *Books of the Year* *
Brilliantly written, mesmerising, superb scholarship and totally immersive . . . a total game changer -- KATE WILLIAMS, author of Rival Queens: the Betrayal of Mary Queen of Scotts
With grace and sensitivity, de Lisle cuts through the misogyny to reveal a different Henrietta Maria . . . De Lisle understands that history is a story of people; she possesses a visceral understanding of the emotions that swirled inside Henrietta Maria . . . she was not England's greatest queen, but she was probably the most remarkable -- GERARD DEGROOT * The Times * Book of the Week * *
De Lisle has made a speciality of bringing Tudors and Stuarts back to blazing life... The result is deeply satisfying and makes an excellent companion to her earlier much-admired biography of Charles I, White King -- Kathryn Hughes * Sunday Times *
A captivating, richly detailed historical tale that shines a light on the hidden genius of an extraordinary woman * Literary Review *
de Lisle turns her attention to [Charles I's] wife, Henrietta Maria, similarly shading with nuance a character who can sometimes be reduced to primary-colour simplicity * History Today *
A glorious resurrection of one of the most misrepresented queens of England . . . finally, thanks to Leanda de Lisle's meticulous research, she has a biography worthy of her fascinating life -- AMANDA FOREMAN, author of A World on Fire
Henrietta Maria's remarkable life is recounted with gusto in this sharp, sparky book... it makes vivid use of recent work on her court and queenship, brings people and personalities to the fore and will be a particular delight to those new to the period -- ANNA KEAY * Spectator *
Leanda de Lisle has brilliantly overturned nearly four centuries of misogynistic, religiously bigoted and politically motivated myths about Henrietta Maria, who now emerges as a fascinating, fearless, but ill-fated woman, wife and mother. This is revisionist history at its absolute best -- ANDREW ROBERTS, author of George III: The Life of Britain's Most Misunderstood Monarch
A formidable historian -- ALLAN MALLINSON * Country Life *
With supreme skill and style, Leanda de Lisle provides not only a welcome revision of Henrietta Maria's reputation, but also a revival of her fierce energy and a reanimation of the entire age. A superb and vital biography -- JESSIE CHILDS, author of The Siege of Loyalty House
A captivating, richly detailed historical tale that shines a light on the hidden genius of an extraordinary woman * Woman's Own *
This is popular history of the finest kind, vivid, immediate, well researched and telling a compelling story. It is also serves the first duty of biography, by making its subject more wholly understandable than before -- RONALD HUTTON, author of The Witch
Leanda de Lisle's beautifully written and endlessly fascinating new biography of Henrietta Maria brings one of the 17th century's most misunderstood women to glorious life . . . This salutary and important book restores her to her rightful place as one of the most important figures of her time -- ALEXANDER LARMAN, author of The Crown in Crisis
If the Stuarts are having their time in the sun at last, then Leanda de Lisle is one of the reasons they are. Masterful and pleasurable about a transformative century and a neglected, underestimated woman's role in it -- what more can one want from history? -- SARAH FRASER, author of The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart
A fascinating book about a fascinating woman -- Henrietta Maria's story deserves to be better known, and this book brings her completely alive -- FRANCES QUINN, author of The Smallest Man
Henietta Maria's perspective allows this book to become something much more than mere analysis of politics and war. De Lisle understands that history is a story of people; she possesses a visceral understanding of the emotions that swirled inside Henrietta Maria * The Times, *Book of the Week* *
[A] thrilling story... a revisionist life of one of the most compelling and controversial women in British history... a book, like a life, should be measured against its own mission. And in this - to tell the story of Henrietta Maria's extraordinary life from her own perspective - Leanda de Lisle triumphs where her subject could not * The Critic *



Book Information
ISBN 9781529111040
Author Leanda de Lisle
Format Paperback
Page Count 496
Imprint Vintage
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 360g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 30mm