Editions

Rival Queens

Rival Queens

  • The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots

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'Scintillating, provocative... An elegant synthesis of royal biography and political thriller.' Daily Telegraph

A Times History Book of the Year: a story which inspired the Hollywood film MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

Mary, Queen of Scots & Elizabeth I of England. Two powerful monarchs on a single island.
Threatened by voices who believed no woman could govern.
Surrounded by sycophants, spies and detractors.
Accosted for their dominion, their favour and their bodies.
Besieged by secret plots, devastating betrayals and a terrible final act.
Only one queen could survive to rule all.
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'Brings us a fresh Mary, set in a gloriously rich context, a tragic heroine - irresistibly real and relevant... There isn't a line wasted in this taut, dramatic and utterly beguiling biography.' Charles Spencer author of Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

'The perfect combination of scholarship and storytelling, meticulous research and emotional insight, Kate Williams brings Mary vividly to life in all her complexities and contradictions.' Kate Mosse, author of The Burning Chambers

'It takes a special kind of historian to turn an old story on its head. Eye-opening, provocative, this is the great rivalry re-imagined for the #MeToo generation.' Lucy Worsley

Reviews

  • It takes a special kind of historian to turn an old story on its head. Eye-opening, provocative, this is the great rivalry re-imagined for the #MeToo generation.

    Lucy Worsley

  • The perfect combination of scholarship and storytelling, meticulous research and emotional insight, Kate Williams brings Mary vividly to life in all her complexities and contradictions.

    Kate Mosse, author of The Burning Chambers

  • Brings us a fresh Mary, set in a gloriously rich context, a tragic heroine - irresistibly real and relevant... There isn’t a line wasted in this taut, dramatic and utterly beguiling biography.

    Charles Spencer, author of Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

  • Scintillating, provocative... An elegant synthesis of royal biography and political thriller.

    Daily Telegraph

  • What makes [Rival Queens] special is William’s understanding of how gender shaped Mary’s life. This is a feminist history.

    The Times

More from this Author

About the Author

Kate Williams

Kate Williams is an author, social historian and broadcaster. She fell in love with history whilst studying for her BA and DPhil at the University of Oxford and has MAs from Queen Mary and Royal Holloway. She is a Professor of History and appears regularly on television – she recently presented The Stuarts, is the in-house historian and royal expert for CNN, and has appeared on programmes from The Great British Bake Off to election coverage and comedy panel shows. She has written five historical biographies and a series of historical novels, and loves nothing more than a spending her time in dusty archives.

Kate Williams

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