Reviews of MaryTudor: The First Queen - Published in the United Kingdom
Royal portrait distills the loss of Calais
The loss of the English enclave of Calais in 1558, these days the first port of call in France for millions of tourists, has always been blamed on Queen Mary I, who is alleged to have cried that the name of Calais would, after her death, be found engraved on her heart. . .
Complete review by Terry Sutton for Lloyd's List
Mary Tudor The First Queen Linda Porter (£20 portrait)
Hank's verdict This well-researched biography about "Bloody" Mary is fascinating. I loved the way the author shattered the misconceptions we have of her. Rating 4/5
Hank Arnott, Surrey [complete review]
Women's Own 5 November 2007
There's something about Mary. Bastardised by her father, Henry VIII, abandoned by her husband, Philip II, overlooked for her sister, Elizabeth I, we might not remember her at all were it not for John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, which recorded the 300 Protestants she burned at the stake in her four years of rule. Today her name is still as black as a charred corpse, but in Mary Tudor: the First Queen, Linda Porter puts forward an exhaustive and occasionally exhausting defence of the first queen regnant. . .
Complete review by Frances Wilson for Daily Telegraph
LINDA Porter was brave to write a sympathetic biography of england's Queen Mary 1 - otherwise known as "Bloody Mary" - who to this day remains one of the most reviled of Britain's monarchs.
She was the elder daughter of the legendary King Henry VIII and ruled from 1553 until her death in 1558.
Her neurotic and obsessive behaviour, hard-line Roman Catholicism, and near-farcical marriage. . .
Complete review by Anthony Looch for Associated Press
i cant recommend this book highly enough. i am thoroughly interested in the tudors and Mary herself, so jumped at the opportunity to read it when i saw it on the shelf! the book goes through mary's early life before her reign as Queen. it reads like a novel but with the underlying fact that its all historical. her opinion of mary really swayed my outlook on her and takes the popular reputation of bloody mary, that has plagued history, and rly undermines this awful perception. it covers mary from birth to death and leaves no stones unturned you also get really caught up with marys personal feelings and emotion, which makes this a page turner. so def go and buy it - its rly good
Mary deserves her proper account and this friendly and appreciative biography gives her the credit she is due.
